arXiv subjects

S. Squerzanti

Publications and source records attributed to S. Squerzanti.

15 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Design and beam-test characterization of the CRILIN semi-homogeneous crystal calorimeter

CRILIN is a high-granularity semi-homogeneous electromagnetic calorimeter based on longitudinally segmented PbF$_2$ crystal matrices read out by UV-extended silicon photomultipliers. The concept combines fast Cherenkov response, fine transverse granularity, longitudinal shower information, and radiation tolerance for future lepton-collider experiments. This paper reports the construction of a large-area prototype and its performance measured in beam tests at the CERN SPS. The detector comprises five $7\times7$ PbF$_2$ crystal matrices, has a depth of about $22X_0$, and is read out by four $3\times3~\mathrm{mm}^2$ SiPMs per crystal integrated in a single electronic channel. Electron data between 10 and 120~GeV and dedicated 150~GeV muon data were used to characterize the detector response. A time resolution below 50~ps is achieved for electron energies above 10~GeV, reaching values below 20~ps above 60~GeV. The energy resolution is described by a stochastic term of $(6.58\pm0.04)\%/\sqrt{E/\mathrm{GeV}}$ and a constant term of $(0.23\pm0.02)\%$, with an additional noise contribution fixed from pedestal data. The longitudinal segmentation enables event-by-event corrections based on the reconstructed shower development, resulting in a significant improvement of the energy resolution. A light yield of approximately 0.54~photoelectrons/MeV is measured consistently using both electron showers and minimum-ionizing particles. A Geant4-based simulation incorporating the relevant experimental effects reproduces the measured energy resolution. These results validate the CRILIN architecture as a compact, fast, and longitudinally segmented electromagnetic calorimeter for future collider experiments.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2025

LHCspin: a Polarized Gas Target for LHC

The goal of the LHCspin project is to develop innovative solutions for measuring the 3D structure of nucleons in high-energy polarized fixed-target collisions at LHC, exploring new processes and exploiting new probes in a unique, previously unexplored, kinematic regime. A precise multi-dimensional description of the hadron structure has, in fact, the potential to deepen our understanding of the strong interactions and to provide a much more precise framework for measuring both Standard Model and Beyond Standard Model observables. This ambitious task poses its basis on the recent experience with the successful installation and operation of the SMOG2 unpolarized gas target in front of the LHCb spectrometer. Besides allowing for interesting physics studies ranging from astrophysics to heavy-ion physics, SMOG2 provides an ideal benchmark for studying beam-target dynamics at the LHC and demonstrates the feasibility of simultaneous operation with beam-beam collisions. With the installation of the proposed polarized target system, LHCb will become the first experiment to simultaneously collect data from unpolarized beam-beam collisions at $\sqrt{s}$=14 TeV and polarized and unpolarized beam-target collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}\sim$100 GeV. LHCspin has the potential to open new frontiers in physics by exploiting the capabilities of the world's most powerful collider and one of the most advanced spectrometers. This document also highlights the need to perform an R\&D campaign and the commissioning of the apparatus at the LHC Interaction Region 4 during the Run 4, before its final installation in LHCb. This opportunity could also allow to undertake preliminary physics measurements with unprecedented conditions.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2024

High-density gas target at the LHCb experiment

The recently installed internal gas target at LHCb presents exceptional opportunities for an extensive physics program for heavy-ion, hadron, spin, and astroparticle physics. A storage cell placed in the LHC primary vacuum, an advanced Gas Feed System, the availability of multi-TeV proton and ion beams and the recent upgrade of the LHCb detector make this project unique worldwide. In this paper, we outline the main components of the system, the physics prospects it offers and the hardware challenges encountered during its implementation. The commissioning phase has yielded promising results, demonstrating that fixed-target collisions can occur concurrently with the collider mode without compromising efficient data acquisition and high-quality reconstruction of beam-gas and beam-beam interactions.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2023

CdTe Spectroscopic-Imager Measurements with Bent Crystals for Broad Band Laue Lenses

In astrophysics, several key questions in the hard X soft Gamma-ray range (above 100 keV) require sensitivity and angular resolution that are hardly achievable with current technologies. Therefore, a new kind of instrument able to focus hard X and gamma-rays is essential. Broad band Laue lenses seem to be the only solution to fulfil these requirements, significantly improving the sensitivity and angular resolution of the X and gamma-ray telescopes. This type of high-energy optics will require highly performing focal plane detectors in terms of detection efficiency, spatial resolution, and spectroscopy. This paper presents the results obtained in the project 'Technological Readiness Increase for Laue Lenses (TRILL)' framework using a Caliste-HD detector module. This detector is a pixel spectrometer developed at CEA (Commissariat a Energie Atomique, Saclay, France). It is used to acquire spectroscopic images of the focal spot produced by Laue Lens bent crystals under a hard X-ray beam at the LARIX facility (University of Ferrara, Italy).

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2022

Laue lenses: Focusing optics for hard X/soft Gamma-ray Astronomy

Hard X-/soft Gamma-ray astronomy is a key field for the study of important astrophysical phenomena such as the electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational waves, gamma-ray bursts, black holes physics and many more. However, the spatial localization, imaging capabilities and sensitivity of the measurements are strongly limited for the energy range $>$70 keV due to the lack of focusing instruments operating in this energy band. A new generation of instruments suitable to focus hard X-/ soft Gamma-rays is necessary to shed light on the nature of astrophysical phenomena which are still unclear due to the limitations of current direct-viewing telescopes. Laue lenses can be the answer to those needs. A Laue lens is an optical device consisting of a large number of properly oriented crystals which are capable, through Laue diffraction, of concentrating the radiation into the common Laue lens focus. In contrast with the grazing incidence telescopes commonly used for softer X-rays, the transmission configuration of the Laue lenses allows us to obtain a significant sensitive area even at energies of hundreds of keV. At the University of Ferrara we are actively working on the modelization and construction of a broad-band Laue lens. In this work we will present the main concepts behind Laue lenses and the latest technological developments of the TRILL (Technological Readiness Increase for Laue Lenses) project, devoted to the advancement of the technological readiness of Laue lenses by developing the first prototype of a lens sector made of cylindrical bent crystals of Germanium.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2022

ASTENA: a mission concept for a deep study of the transient gamma-ray sky and for nuclear astrophysics

Gamma-ray astronomy is a branch whose potential has not yet been fully exploited. The observations of elemental and isotopic abundances in supernova (SN) explosions are key probes not only of the stellar structure and evolution but also for understanding the physics that makes Type-Ia SNe as standard candles for the study of the Universe expansion properties. In spite of its crucial role, nuclear astrophysics remains a poorly explored field mainly for the typical emission lines intensity which are vanishing small and requires very high sensitivities of the telescopes. Furthermore, in spite that the Galactic bulge-dominated intensity of positron annihilation line at 511 keV has been measured, its origin is still a mystery due to the poor angular resolution and insufficient sensitivity of the commonly employed instrumentation in the sub-MeV energy domain. To answer these scientific issues a jump in sensitivity and angular resolution with respect to the present instrumentation is required. Conceived within the EU project AHEAD, a new high energy mission, capable of tackling the previously mentioned topics, has been proposed. This concept of mission named ASTENA (Advanced Surveyor of Transient Events and Nuclear Astrophysics), includes two instruments: a Wide Field Monitor with Imaging and Spectroscopic (WFM-IS, 2 keV - 20 MeV) capabilities and a Narrow Field Telescope (NFT, 50 - 700 keV). Thanks to the combination of angular resolution, sensitivity and large FoV, ASTENA will be a breakthrough in the hard X and soft gamma--ray energy band, also enabling polarimetry in this energy band. In this talk the science goals of the mission are discussed, the payload configuration is described and expected performances in observing key targets are shown.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2016

Test of the CLAS12 RICH large scale prototype in the direct proximity focusing configuration

A large area ring-imaging Cherenkov detector has been designed to provide clean hadron identification capability in the momentum range from 3 GeV/c up to 8 GeV/c for the CLAS12 experiments at the upgraded 12 GeV continuous electron beam accelerator facility of Jefferson Laboratory. The adopted solution foresees a novel hybrid optics design based on aerogel radiator, composite mirrors and high-packed and high-segmented photon detectors. Cherenkov light will either be imaged directly (forward tracks) or after two mirror reflections (large angle tracks). We report here the results of the tests of a large scale prototype of the RICH detector performed with the hadron beam of the CERN T9 experimental hall for the direct detection configuration. The tests demonstrated that the proposed design provides the required pion-to-kaon rejection factor of 1:500 in the whole momentum range.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2015

Hard x-ray broad band Laue lenses (80 - 600 keV): building methods and performances

We present the status of the laue project devoted to develop a technology for building a 20 meter long focal length Laue lens for hard x-/soft gamma-ray astronomy (80 - 600 keV). The Laue lens is composed of bent crystals of Gallium Arsenide (GaAs, 220) and Germanium (Ge, 111), and, for the first time, the focusing property of bent crystals has been exploited for this field of applications. We show the preliminary results concerning the adhesive employed to fix the crystal tiles over the lens support, the positioning accuracy obtained and possible further improvements. The Laue lens petal that will be completed in a few months has a pass band of 80 - 300 keV and is a fraction of an entire Laue lens capable of focusing X-rays up to 600 keV, possibly extendable down to 20 - 30 keV with suitable low absorption crystal materials and focal length. The final goal is to develop a focusing optics that can improve the sensitivity over current telescopes in this energy band by 2 orders of magnitude.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2014

The LAUE project and its main results

We will describe the LAUE project, supported by the Italian Space Agency, whose aim is to demonstrate the capability to build a focusing optics in the hard X-/soft gamma-ray domain (80--600 keV). To show the lens feasibility, the assembling of a Laue lens petal prototype with 20 m focal length is ongoing. Indeed, a feasibility study, within the LAUE project, has demonstrated that a Laue lens made of petals is feasible. Our goal is a lens in the 80-600 keV energy band. In addition to a detailed description of the new LARIX facility, in which the lens is being assembled, we will report the results of the project obtained so far.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2012

Development status of the LAUE project

We present the status of LAUE, a project supported by the Italian Space Agency (ASI), and devoted to develop Laue lenses with long focal length (up to 100 meters), for hard X--/soft gamma--ray astronomy (80-600 keV). Thanks to their focusing capability, the design goal is to improve the sensitivity of the current instrumention in the above energy band by 2 orders of magnitude, down to a few times $10^{-8}$ photons/(cm$^2$ s keV).

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2011

Laue lenses for hard X-/soft Gamma-rays: new prototype results

We present the results obtained with the new Laue lens prototype built in the LARIX facility in the Physics Department of University of Ferrara. Following the results of the first prototype presented at the SPIE conference in Marseille, and also thanks to the methods adopted for improving the prototype (SPIE conference in San Diego, Ferrari et al. 2009) here we present the results of the new prototype with improved performances in terms of point spread function (PSF) and spectral response.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2009

New results on focusing of gamma-rays with Laue lenses

We report on new results on the development activity of broad band Laue lenses for hard X-/gamma-ray astronomy (70/100-600 keV). After the development of a first prototype, whose performance was presented at the SPIE conference on Astronomical Telescopes held last year in Marseille (Frontera et al. 2008), we have improved the lens assembling technology. We present the development status of the new lens prototype that is on the way to be assembled.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2008

Focusing of gamma-rays with Laue lenses: first results

We report on the first results obtained from our development project of focusing gamma-rays ($>$60 keV) by using Laue lenses. The first lens prototype model has been assembled and tested. We describe the technique adopted and the lens focusing capabilities at about 100 keV.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

Development status of a Laue lens project for gamma-ray astronomy

We report the status of the HAXTEL project, devoted to perform a design study and the development of a Laue lens prototype. After a summary of the major results of the design study, the approach adopted to develop a Demonstration Model of a Laue lens is discussed, the set up described, and some results presented.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

Laue Lens Development for Hard X-rays (>60 keV)

Results of reflectivity measurements of mosaic crystal samples of Cu (111) are reported. These tests were performed in the context of a feasibility study of a hard X-ray focusing telescope for space astronomy with energy passband from 60 to 600 keV. The technique envisaged is that of using mosaic crystals in transmission configuration that diffract X-rays for Bragg diffraction (Laue lens). The Laue lens assumed has a spherical shape with focal length $f$. It is made of flat mosaic crystal tiles suitably positioned in the lens. The samples were grown and worked for this project at the Institute Laue-Langevin (ILL) in Grenoble (France), while the reflectivity tests were performed at the X-ray facility of the Physics Department of the University of Ferrara.

astro-ph↗