MISTRAL and its KIDs Paiella, A.; de Bernardis, P.; Cacciotti, F. ...
Journal of low temperature physics,
12/2022, Letnik:
209, Številka:
5-6
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The MIllimetric Sardinia radio Telescope Receiver based on Array of Lumped elements KIDs, MISTRAL, is a cryogenic W-band (77–103 GH) LEKID camera which will be integrated at the Gregorian focus of ...the 64 m aperture Sardinia Radio Telescope, in Italy, in Autumn 2022. This instrument, thanks to its high angular resolution (
∼
13
arcsec
) and the wide instantaneous field of view (
∼
4
arcmin
), will allow continuum surveys of the mm-wave sky with a variety of scientific targets, spanning from extragalactic astrophysics to solar system science. In this contribution, we will describe the design of the MISTRAL camera, with a particular focus on the optimisation and test of a prototype of the focal plane.
Rare event physics demands very detailed background control, high-performance detectors, and custom analysis strategies. Cryogenic calorimeters combine all these ingredients very effectively, ...representing a promising tool for next-generation experiments. CUPID-0 is one of the most advanced examples of such a technique, having demonstrated its potential with several results obtained with limited exposure. In this paper, we present a further application. Exploiting the analysis of delayed coincidence, we can identify the signals caused by the 220Rn-216Po decay sequence on an event-by-event basis. The analysis of these events allows us to extract the time differences between the two decays, leading to a new evaluation of 216Po half-life, estimated as (143.3±2.8) ms.
Abstract Carnitine deficiency is prevalent in populations with chronic illness, including cancer. In a recent open-label study, L-carnitine supplementation was well tolerated and appeared to improve ...fatigue and other outcomes in cancer patients. To further evaluate this finding, adult patients with advanced cancer, carnitine deficiency (free carnitine more than 35 μmol/L for males or less than 25 μmol/L for females, or acyl/free carnitine ratio of more than 0.4), moderate to severe fatigue, and a Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) score of 50 or more, were randomly assigned to receive either L-carnitine (0.5 g/day for two days, followed by 1 g/day for two days, and then 2 g/day for 10 days) or placebo. This double-blind phase was followed by an open-label phase, during which all patients received L-carnitine supplementation for two weeks. Outcomes included the fatigue subscale of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Anemia (FACT-An), the Linear Analog Scale Assessments (LASA), the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE), and the KPS. Twenty-nine patients (12 placebo, 17 L-carnitine) were included in the intent-to-treat (ITT) analysis. From baseline to the end of the double-blind phase, serum total and free L-carnitine increased from 32.9 ± 3.8 to 56.6 ± 20.5 ( P = 0.004), and from 22.9 ± 19.4 to 45.3 ± 17.2 ( P = 0.004), respectively, in the L-carnitine-treated group, and from 28.2 ± 10.2 to 36.2 ± 8.7 ( P = ns), and from 22.6 ± 7.9 to 28.7 ± 8.6 ( P = ns) in the placebo group, respectively. The planned ITT analysis revealed no significant improvement in any of the study's endpoints, and these negative findings were not different when data from two patients who did not adhere to the protocol were eliminated. However, an exploratory covariate analysis that excluded these two protocol violators and included outcome data from both the double-blind and open-label phases demonstrated significantly improved fatigue on the FACT-An fatigue subscale ( P < 0.03), and significantly improved FACT-An functional well-being subscale ( P < 0.03), and KPS ( P < 0.003), in the group that started with L-carnitine during the double-blind phase. These data do not support the conclusion that L-carnitine in the doses tested reverses cancer-related fatigue in carnitine-deficient patients. However, L-carnitine supplementation does increase L-carnitine serum levels, and the positive findings in an exploratory analysis justify a larger study to determine if this strategy could be of benefit for a subpopulation of cancer patients.
Fabrication of the CALDER light detectors Colantoni, I.; Bellini, F.; Cardani, L. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
07/2016, Letnik:
824
Journal Article
Recenzirano
CALDER (Cryogenic wide-Area Light Detectors with Excellent Resolution) is a project for the development of large area phonon mediated KIDs (Kinetic Inductance Detectors), for the detection of ...Cherenkov radiation emitted in TeO2 bolometers to search for neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ). The KIDs are superconducting detectors made of high quality factor superconducting resonators, which are coupled to a transmission line for signal readout. We designed and fabricated KIDs using aluminum. The Al thin films (40nm) were evaporated on Si(100) high resistivity silicon wafers using an electron beam evaporator in a HV chamber. In this work we report the steps of the fabrication process. All devices are made in direct-write using Electron Beam Lithography (EBL), positive tone resist poly-methyl methacrylate (PMMA) and lift off process. In order to improve the sensitivity of the detectors we have started recently to use sub-stoichiometric TiN deposited by means of DC magnetron sputtering and we will optimize a different fabrication process.
Non-equilibrium quasiparticles can deteriorate the performance of superconducting qubits by reducing their coherence. We are investigating a source of quasiparticles that has been too long neglected, ...namely radioactivity: cosmic rays, environmental radioactivity and contaminants in the materials can all generate phonons of energy sufficient to break Cooper pairs and thus increase the number of quasiparticles. In this contribution, we describe the status of the project and its perspectives.
In this paper we describe the current status of the CALDER project, which is developing ultra-sensitive light detectors based on superconductors for cryogenic applications. When we apply an AC ...current to a superconductor, the Cooper pairs oscillate and acquire kinetic inductance, that can be measured by inserting the superconductor in a LC circuit with high merit factor. Interactions in the superconductor can break the Cooper pairs, causing sizable variations in the kinetic inductance and, thus, in the response of the LC circuit. The continuous monitoring of the amplitude and frequency modulation allows to reconstruct the incident energy with excellent sensitivity. This concept is at the basis of Kinetic Inductance Detectors (KIDs) that are characterized by natural aptitude to multiplexed read-out (several sensors can be tuned to different resonant frequencies and coupled to the same line), resolution of few eV, stable behavior over a wide temperature range, and ease in fabrication. We present the results obtained by the CALDER collaboration with 2×2cm2 substrates sampled by 1 or 4 Aluminum KIDs. We show that the performances of the first prototypes are already competitive with those of other commonly used light detectors, and we discuss the strategies for a further improvement.
The CALDER project aims to realize cryogenic light detectors for the next generation of experiments searching for rare events. More in detail, the main application of these devices will be the ...background suppression in future cryogenic calorimetric experiments searching for neutrinoless double beta decay (
0
ν
DBD). This is the case of CUPID, a next-generation
0
ν
DBD observatory, able to take advantage from particle identification to dramatically reduce the background events. In this contribution, we show the status of the CALDER project. The light sensors developed in this R&D are based on kinetic inductance detector operated in the phonon-mediated approach. Their energy resolution (20 eV), time response (
μ
s) and multiplexing capability make them very promising for the future CUPID experiment.
The goal of the cryogenic wide-area light detectors with excellent resolution project is the development of light detectors with large active area and noise energy resolution smaller than 20 eV RMS ...using phonon-mediated kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs). The detectors are developed to improve the background suppression in large-mass bolometric experiments such as CUORE, via the double readout of the light and the heat released by particles interacting in the bolometers. In this work we present the fabrication process, starting from the silicon wafer arriving to the single chip. In the first part of the project, we designed and fabricated KID detectors using aluminum. Detectors are designed by means of state-of-the-art software for electromagnetic analysis (SONNET). The Al thin films (40 nm) are evaporated on high-quality, high-resistivity (> 10 kΩ cm) Si(100) substrates using an electron beam evaporator in a HV chamber. Detectors are patterned in direct-write mode, using electron beam lithography (EBL), positive tone resist poly-methyl methacrylate and lift-off process. Finally, the chip is diced into 20 × 20 mm
2
chips and assembled in a holder OFHC (oxygen-free high conductivity) copper using PTFE support. To increase the energy resolution of our detectors, we are changing the superconductor to sub-stoichiometric TiN (TiN
x
) deposited by means of DC magnetron sputtering. We are optimizing its deposition by means of DC magnetron reactive sputtering. For this kind of material, the fabrication process is subtractive and consists of EBL patterning through negative tone resist AR-N 7700 and deep reactive ion etching. Critical temperature of TiN
x
samples was measured in a dedicated cryostat.
We report on the development of thermal kinetic inductance detectors (TKIDs) suitable to perform X-ray spectroscopy measurements. The aim is to implement MKIDs sensors working in thermal ...quasi-equilibrium mode to detect X-ray photons as pure calorimeters. The thermal mode is a variation on the MKID classical way of operation that has generated interest in recent years. TKIDs can offer the MKIDs inherent multiplexibility in the frequency domain, a high spatial resolution comparable with CCDs, and an energy resolution theoretically limited only by thermodynamic fluctuations across the thermal weak links. Microresonators are built in Ti/TiN multilayer technology with the inductive part thermally coupled with a metal absorber on a suspended SiN membrane, to avoid escape of phonons from the film to the substrate. The mid-term goal is to optimize the single-pixel design in terms of superconducting critical temperatures, internal quality factors, kinetic inductance and spectral energy resolution. The final goal is to realize a demonstrator array for a next generation thousand pixels X-ray spectrometer. In this contribution, the status of the project after one year of developments is reported, with detailed reference to the microresonators design and simulations and to the fabrication process.