arXiv subjects

V. Cicero

Publications and source records attributed to V. Cicero.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Cryogenic characterization of FBK NUV-HD-Cryo 3T SiPM sensors for the DUNE photon detection system

The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is a long-baseline neutrino experiment based in the USA and composed of a Near Detector (ND) complex at Fermi National Laboratory (FNAL), and a Far Detector (FD) complex located at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) $\sim$1300\,km distant. DUNE will study neutrino oscillations looking for unresolved issues of the Standard Model of particle physics (SM) such as CP violation in the leptonic sector, neutrino mass ordering and others, starting from the early 2030s. The FD, with a mass of $\sim$17\,kt, that will exploit both ionization and scintillation signals to detect neutrino interactions with Argon. Scintillating photons in LAr will be detected by the photon detection system (PDS) based on light collectors coupled to Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs). During a test campaign, different laboratories of the collaboration performed an investigation of the best SiPM candidates that fulfill the DUNE FD requirements. We identified two models of SiPM, produced by Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. (HPK) and Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK), respectively. In this paper, we focus on the FBK selected model showing its main features. We will describe the characterization protocol, the results at both room and cryogenic temperatures and the photon detection efficiency measurements.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2025

Design and Implementation of the Cosmic Ray Tagger System for the ICARUS detector at FNAL

The ICARUS-T600 Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber is operating at Fermilab at shallow depth and thus exposed to a high flux of cosmic rays that can fake neutrino interactions. A cosmic ray tagging (CRT) system ($\sim$1100 m$^2$), surrounding the cryostat with two layers of fiber embedded plastic scintillators, was developed to mitigate the cosmic ray induced background. Using nanosecond-level timing information, the CRT can distinguish incoming cosmic rays from outgoing particles from neutrino interactions in the TPC. In this paper an overview of the CRT system, its installation and commissioning at Fermilab, and its performance are discussed.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2021

Coded masks for imaging of neutrino events

The capture of scintillation light emitted by liquid Argon and Xenon under molecular excitations by charged particles is still a challenging task. Here we present a first attempt to design a device able to grab sufficiently high luminosity in order to reconstruct the path of ionizing particles. This preliminary study is based on the use of masks to encode the light signal combined with single-photon detectors. In this respect, the proposed system is able to detect tracks over focal distances of about tens of centimeters. From numerical simulations it emerges that it is possible to successfully decode and recognize signals, even complex, with a relatively limited number of acquisition channels. Such innovative technique can be very fruitful in a new generation of detectors devoted to neutrino physics and dark matter search. Indeed the introduction of coded masks combined with SiPM detectors is proposed for a liquid-Argon target in the Near Detector of the DUNE experiment.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2021

SHADOWS (Search for Hidden And Dark Objects With the SPS)

We propose a new beam-dump experiment, SHADOWS, to search for a large variety of feebly-interacting particles possibly produced in the interactions of a 400 GeV proton beam with a high-Z material dump. SHADOWS will use the 400 GeV primary proton beam extracted from the CERN SPS currently serving the NA62 experiment in the CERN North area and will take data off-axis when the P42 beam line is operated in beam-dump mode. SHADOWS can accumulate up to a ~2 x10^19 protons on target per year and expand the exploration for a large variety of FIPs well beyond the state-of-the-art in the mass range of MeV-GeV in a parameter space that is allowed by cosmological and astrophysical observations. So far the strongest bounds on the interaction strength of new feebly-interacting light particles with Standard Model particles exist up to the kaon mass; above this threshold the bounds weaken significantly. SHADOWS can do an important step into this still poorly explored territory and has the potential to discover them if they have a mass between the kaon and the beauty mass. If no signal is found, SHADOWS will push the limits on their couplings with SM particles between one and four orders of magnitude in the same mass range, depending on the model and scenario.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2021

Performance of scintillating tiles with direct silicon-photomultiplier (SiPM) readout for application to large area detectors

The light yield, the time resolution and the efficiency of different types of scintillating tiles with direct Silicon Photomultiplier readout and instrumented with a customised front-end electronics have been measured at the Beam Test Facility of Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati and several test stands. The results obtained with different configurations are presented. A time resolution of the order of 300 ps, a light yield of more than 230 photo-electrons, and an efficiency better than 99.8 $\%$ are obtained with $\sim 225$ cm$^2$ large area tiles. This technology is suitable for a wide range of applications in high-energy physics, in particular for large area muon and timing detectors.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2021

Sensitivity of the SHiP experiment to dark photons decaying to a pair of charged particles

Dark photons are hypothetical massive vector particles that could mix with ordinary photons. The simplest theoretical model is fully characterised by only two parameters: the mass of the dark photon m$_{γ^{\mathrm{D}}}$ and its mixing parameter with the photon, $\varepsilon$. The sensitivity of the SHiP detector is reviewed for dark photons in the mass range between 0.002 and 10 GeV. Different production mechanisms are simulated, with the dark photons decaying to pairs of visible fermions, including both leptons and quarks. Exclusion contours are presented and compared with those of past experiments. The SHiP detector is expected to have a unique sensitivity for m$_{γ^{\mathrm{D}}}$ ranging between 0.8 and 3.3$^{+0.2}_{-0.5}$ GeV, and $\varepsilon^2$ ranging between $10^{-11}$ and $10^{-17}$.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2020

SND@LHC

We propose to build and operate a detector that, for the first time, will measure the process $pp\toνX$ at the LHC and search for feebly interacting particles (FIPs) in an unexplored domain. The TI18 tunnel has been identified as a suitable site to perform these measurements due to very low machine-induced background. The detector will be off-axis with respect to the ATLAS interaction point (IP1) and, given the pseudo-rapidity range accessible, the corresponding neutrinos will mostly come from charm decays: the proposed experiment will thus make the first test of the heavy flavour production in a pseudo-rapidity range that is not accessible by the current LHC detectors. In order to efficiently reconstruct neutrino interactions and identify their flavour, the detector will combine in the target region nuclear emulsion technology with scintillating fibre tracking layers and it will adopt a muon identification system based on scintillating bars that will also play the role of a hadronic calorimeter. The time of flight measurement will be achieved thanks to a dedicated timing detector. The detector will be a small-scale prototype of the scattering and neutrino detector (SND) of the SHiP experiment: the operation of this detector will provide an important test of the neutrino reconstruction in a high occupancy environment.

physics.ins-det↗