arXiv subjects

S. De Capua

Publications and source records attributed to S. De Capua.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Fabrication of thin planar radiopure foils with 82Se for the SuperNEMO Demonstrator

The SuperNEMO Demonstrator, designed to search for double beta decay using enriched 82Se, has been assembled in the Modane Underground Laboratory under the French Alps. Thin foils with radio - purified and enriched 82Se are installed centrally in the detector. A novel foil fabrication method has been developed, improving the radiopurity achieved in the previous generation experiment. It consists of wrapping standalone selenium pads in raw Mylar, combined with selenium purified by a new reverse-chromatography method. This paper describes the features of these foils, their fabrication process, the characterization results, and the integration of the foils into the SuperNEMO Demonstrator.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2025

Experimental Study of Rare Kaon Decays at J-PARC with KOTO and KOTO II

The rare kaon decay $K_L\toπ^0ν\barν$ is extremely sensitive to new physics, because the contribution to this decay in the Standard Model (SM) is highly suppressed and known very accurately; the branching ratio is $3\times 10^{-11}$ in the SM with a theoretical uncertainty of just 2%. The measurement of this branching ratio could provide essential new information about the flavor structure of the quark sector from the $s\to d$ transition. The decay is being searched for in the KOTO experiment at J-PARC, which has obtained the current best upper limit on the branching ratio of $2.2\times 10^{-9}$; a sensitivity to branching ratios below $10^{-10}$ is achievable by the end of the decade. A next-generation experiment at J-PARC, KOTO II, was proposed in 2024 with 82 members worldwide, including significant contributions from European members. The goal of KOTO II is to measure the $K_L\toπ^0ν\barν$ branching ratio with sensitivity below $10^{-12}$ in the 2030s. Discovery of the decay with $5σ$ significance is achievable at the SM value of the branching ratio. An indication of new physics with a significance of 90% is possible if the observed branching ratio differs by 40% from the SM value. Another important goal of KOTO II is to measure the branching ratio of the unobserved $K_L\to π^0e^+e^-$ decay, which can give an input to flavor structures of new physics. Other rare $K_L$ decays and hidden-sector particles are also in the scope of the study. After 2026, KOTO will be the only dedicated rare kaon decay experiment in the world, and KOTO II is the only future rare kaon decay project currently proposed. We would like to lead a global initiative for the experimental study of rare kaon decays, with significant contributions and support from the European community.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2024

The LHCb VELO Upgrade Module Construction

The LHCb detector has undergone a major upgrade for LHC Run 3. This Upgrade I detector facilitates operation at higher luminosity and utilises full-detector information at the LHC collision rate, critically including the use of vertex information. A new vertex locator system, the VELO Upgrade, has been constructed. The core element of the new VELO are the double-sided pixelated hybrid silicon detector modules which operate in vacuum close to the LHC beam in a high radiation environment. The construction and quality assurance tests of these modules are described in this paper. The modules incorporate 200 \mum thick, n-on-p silicon sensors bump-bonded to 130 \nm technology ASICs. These are attached with high precision to a silicon microchannel substrate that uses evaporative CO$_2$ cooling. The ASICs are controlled and read out with flexible printed circuits that are glued to the substrate and wire-bonded to the chips. The mechanical support of the module is given by a carbon fibre plate, two carbon fibre rods and an aluminium plate. The sensor attachment was achieved with an average precision of 21 $\mathrm{μm}$, more than 99.5\% of all pixels are fully functional, and a thermal figure of merit of 3 \mathrm{Kcm^{2}W^{-1}}$ was achieved. The production of the modules was successfully completed in 2021, with the final assembly and installation completed in time for data taking in 2022.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2021

Measurement of the distribution of $^{207}$Bi depositions on calibration sources for SuperNEMO

The SuperNEMO experiment will search for neutrinoless double-beta decay ($0νββ$), and study the Standard-Model double-beta decay process ($2νββ$). The SuperNEMO technology can measure the energy of each of the electrons produced in a double-beta ($ββ$) decay, and can reconstruct the topology of their individual tracks. The study of the double-beta decay spectrum requires very accurate energy calibration to be carried out periodically. The SuperNEMO Demonstrator Module will be calibrated using 42 calibration sources, each consisting of a droplet of $^{207}$Bi within a frame assembly. The quality of these sources, which depends upon the entire $^{207}$Bi droplet being contained within the frame, is key for correctly calibrating SuperNEMO's energy response. In this paper, we present a novel method for precisely measuring the exact geometry of the deposition of $^{207}$Bi droplets within the frames, using Timepix pixel detectors. We studied 49 different sources and selected 42 high-quality sources with the most central source positioning.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2018

Mapping the material in the LHCb vertex locator using secondary hadronic interactions

Precise knowledge of the location of the material in the LHCb vertex locator (VELO) is essential to reducing background in searches for long-lived exotic particles, and in identifying jets that originate from beauty and charm quarks. Secondary interactions of hadrons produced in beam-gas collisions are used to map the location of material in the VELO. Using this material map, along with properties of a reconstructed secondary vertex and its constituent tracks, a $p$-value can be assigned to the hypothesis that the secondary vertex originates from a material interaction. A validation of this procedure is presented using photon conversions to dimuons.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2017

Calorimeter development for the SuperNEMO double beta decay experiment

SuperNEMO is a double-$β$ decay experiment, which will employ the successful tracker-calorimeter technique used in the recently completed NEMO-3 experiment. SuperNEMO will implement 100 kg of double-$β$ decay isotope, reaching a sensitivity to the neutrinoless double-$β$ decay ($0νββ$) half-life of the order of $10^{26}$ yr, corresponding to a Majorana neutrino mass of 50-100 meV. One of the main goals and challenges of the SuperNEMO detector development programme has been to reach a calorimeter energy resolution, $Δ$E/E, around 3%/$sqrt(E)$(MeV) $σ$, or 7%/$sqrt(E)$(MeV) FWHM (full width at half maximum), using a calorimeter composed of large volume plastic scintillator blocks coupled to photomultiplier tubes. We describe the R\&D programme and the final design of the SuperNEMO calorimeter that has met this challenging goal.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2017

The BiPo-3 detector for the measurement of ultra low natural radioactivities of thin materials

The BiPo-3 detector, running in the Canfranc Underground Laboratory (Laboratorio Subterráneo de Canfranc, LSC, Spain) since 2013, is a low-radioactivity detector dedicated to measuring ultra low natural radionuclide contaminations of $^{208}$Tl ($^{232}$Th chain) and $^{214}$Bi ($^{238}$U chain) in thin materials. The total sensitive surface area of the detector is 3.6 m$^2$. The detector has been developed to measure radiopurity of the selenium double $β$-decay source foils of the SuperNEMO experiment. In this paper the design and performance of the detector, and results of the background measurements in $^{208}$Tl and $^{214}$Bi, are presented, and validation of the BiPo-3 measurement with a calibrated aluminium foil is discussed. Results of the $^{208}$Tl and $^{214}$Bi activity measurements of the first enriched $^{82}$Se foils of the double $β$-decay SuperNEMO experiment are reported. The sensitivity of the BiPo-3 detector for the measurement of the SuperNEMO $^{82}$Se foils is $\mathcal{A}$($^{208}$Tl) $<2$ $μ$Bq/kg (90\% C.L.) and $\mathcal{A}$($^{214}$Bi) $<140$ $μ$Bq/kg (90\% C.L.) after 6 months of measurement.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2014

Performance of the LHCb Vertex Locator

The Vertex Locator (VELO) is a silicon microstrip detector that surrounds the proton-proton interaction region in the LHCb experiment. The performance of the detector during the first years of its physics operation is reviewed. The system is operated in vacuum, uses a bi-phase CO2 cooling system, and the sensors are moved to 7 mm from the LHC beam for physics data taking. The performance and stability of these characteristic features of the detector are described, and details of the material budget are given. The calibration of the timing and the data processing algorithms that are implemented in FPGAs are described. The system performance is fully characterised. The sensors have a signal to noise ratio of approximately 20 and a best hit resolution of 4 microns is achieved at the optimal track angle. The typical detector occupancy for minimum bias events in standard operating conditions in 2011 is around 0.5%, and the detector has less than 1% of faulty strips. The proximity of the detector to the beam means that the inner regions of the n+-on-n sensors have undergone space-charge sign inversion due to radiation damage. The VELO performance parameters that drive the experiment's physics sensitivity are also given. The track finding efficiency of the VELO is typically above 98% and the modules have been aligned to a precision of 1 micron for translations in the plane transverse to the beam. A primary vertex resolution of 13 microns in the transverse plane and 71 microns along the beam axis is achieved for vertices with 25 tracks. An impact parameter resolution of less than 35 microns is achieved for particles with transverse momentum greater than 1 GeV/c.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2013

Radiation damage in the LHCb Vertex Locator

The LHCb Vertex Locator (VELO) is a silicon strip detector designed to reconstruct charged particle trajectories and vertices produced at the LHCb interaction region. During the first two years of data collection, the 84 VELO sensors have been exposed to a range of fluences up to a maximum value of approximately $\rm{45 \times 10^{12}\,1\,MeV}$ neutron equivalent ($\rm{1\,MeV\,n_{eq}}$). At the operational sensor temperature of approximately $-7\,^{\circ}\rm{C}$, the average rate of sensor current increase is $18\,\upmu\rm{A}$ per $\rm{fb^{-1}}$, in excellent agreement with predictions. The silicon effective bandgap has been determined using current versus temperature scan data after irradiation, with an average value of $E_{g}=1.16\pm0.03\pm0.04\,\rm{eV}$ obtained. The first observation of n-on-n sensor type inversion at the LHC has been made, occurring at a fluence of around $15 \times 10 ^{12}$ of $1\,\rm{MeV\,n_{eq}}$. The only n-on-p sensors in use at the LHC have also been studied. With an initial fluence of approximately $\rm{3 \times 10^{12}\,1\,MeV\,n_{eq}}$, a decrease in the Effective Depletion Voltage (EDV) of around 25\,V is observed, attributed to oxygen induced removal of boron interstitial sites. Following this initial decrease, the EDV increases at a comparable rate to the type inverted n-on-n type sensors, with rates of $(1.43\pm 0.16) \times 10 ^{-12}\,\rm{V} / \, 1 \, \rm{MeV\,n_{eq}}$ and $(1.35\pm 0.25) \times 10 ^{-12}\,\rm{V} / \, 1 \, \rm{MeV\,n_{eq}}$ measured for n-on-p and n-on-n type sensors, respectively. A reduction in the charge collection efficiency due to an unexpected effect involving the second metal layer readout lines is observed.

physics.ins-det↗