Ionizing radiation is the foundation of modern society with rapid growth in medical diagnostics and treatment, space exploration, nuclear energy, and border security. However, increased use in recent decades has correlated to higher radiation exposures, with harmful effects to the health of workers and patients. Active monitoring has now become compulsory in many countries to instantaneously...
The importance of energy-resolved photon counting (ERPC) systems for quality enhancements in X-ray images is now widely recognized. Due to the energy-dependence of the X-ray attenuation processes, spectral X-ray imaging represents a key tool for high resolution material detection and quantitative analysis, especially for medical diagnosis and non-destructive testing (NDT) in security and food...
With the rise of $4^{th}$ Generation Synchrotron Light Sources such as the Extremely Brilliant Source (EBS) of the ESRF, the need for direct X-ray detection under high photon flux with moderate to high energies ($30-100 \ keV$ range) has increased. Moreover, multiple medical imaging companies that build prototypal Computed Tomography (CT) scanners need to innovative material able to withstand...
The SIDDHARTA-2 experiment at the DA$\Phi$NE collider aims to perform the first high-precision measurement of kaonic deuterium x-ray transitions to the fundamental level with low systematic uncertainty. To achieve this goal, the experimental apparatus is equipped with 384 Silicon Drift Detectors (SDDs) distributed around its cryogenic gaseous target. The SDDs developed by the SIDDHARTA-2...
X-ray dosimetry is an area of increasing importance in diagnostic radiology, due to the potential for radiation-induced cancer and acute organ damage to body organs such as skin and eyes. There are three aspects to dosimetry in diagnostic radiology: measurement of performance of X-ray equipment, assessment of doses to patients, and assessment of doses to workers. One type of radiation...
X-ray emission measurements offer profound insights into plasma behavior in both spatial and temporal contexts. These findings are critical in understanding various plasma parameters, including ion and electron temperatures, electron density, impurity concentration, and more. We propose an innovative X-ray spectroscopy diagnostic system that integrates a robust, noise-free Gas Electron...
Muonic X-ray Emission Spectroscopy (µXES) is a novel technique in the broad field of non-destructive methods for cultural heritage analysis [1]. It relies on the interaction of a probe of negative muons with matter and the following emission of x-ray radiation. Since the muon mass is about 200 times bigger than the electron, the emitted X-rays are highly energetic and are characteristic of the...
Radiation-induced point defects, known as color centers (CCs), in lithium fluoride (LiF) thin films are successfully used in passive X-ray imaging detectors [1]. LiF film detectors for extreme ultraviolet radiation, soft and hard X-rays, based on photoluminescence of stable, laser-active electronic defects, have been proposed [2, 3, 4] and are currently under further development and...
From liquid metal jet to laser driven x-ray sources, a variety of new, compact x-ray sources are emerging in between the gold standard of synchrotron facilities and the widely used standard laboratory x-ray sources.
Translating, adapting, or redesigning x-ray imaging techniques specifically for these novel sources is paramount to achieve the best performance and serve the society by...
Two new ASICs have been developed for the readout of CdZnTe and similar detectors materials used for hard X-ray measurement. Although the two ASICs are targeted at different applications and use different CMOS process nodes, they implement the same concept of utilising in pixel digitisation and Gbps scale serialisers to operate at high frame rates. A common DAQ design is employed to aggregate...
In this work, we will present the potentialities of new quasi-hemispherical CZT detectors, recently developed at IMEM- CNR Parma (Italy), for high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy of kaonic atoms. Kaonic atoms are formed when a K- is moderated inside a target until it reaches a low enough kinetic energy to be stopped, replacing one of the outer electrons and forming an exotic atom in a highly...
The Enhanced X-ray Timing and Polarimetry (eXTP) mission is a collaboration between Chinese and European research institutes and is designed to study the state of matter under extreme conditions of gravity, density and magnetic field. The primary objectives are to determine the equation of state of matter at densities higher than nuclear, measure QED effects in very high magnetic fields and...
The observation of X- and γ-ray emissions coming from the deep space is fundamental for the study of matter under extreme conditions of gravity and for the understanding of the early Universe. Due to the absorption of X-/γ-rays in the atmosphere, the realization of high spectroscopic-resolution and high-granularity radiation detectors with large format focal planes is made even more...
Thanks to the large photon-collecting area and small anode capacitance, combined with state-of-the-art techniques to reduce the impact of leakage current on the overall electronic noise, Silicon Drift Detector (SDD) technology enables the development of sensors which are particularly suited for high-throughput space-based spectral-timing X-ray astronomy. In this talk, we will present the...
This work reports on the development of innovative energy-dispersive X-ray detection systems based on monolithic arrays of Silicon Drift Detector (SDD). We present the adoption of SDDs in different configurations to enhance properties like detection efficiency, throughput capability, and compactness, in addition to high-energy resolution.
Regarding detection efficiency, we propose a solution...
Hybrid X-ray single photon-counting and charge integrating detectors developed at the Paul Scherrer Institute perform outstandingly in many hard X-ray experiments, both at synchrotrons and XFELs, but they show limitations in the soft X-ray energy region. The main factors that limit the detection of soft X-rays are the poor quantum efficiency, due to the short attenuation length of soft X-rays,...
X-ray sources driven by femtosecond lasers with high peak power provide compact alternatives to large-scale facilities such as synchrotrons and X-ray Free electron lasers. ELI Beamlines facility is devoted to providing various beamlines of laser-driven X-rays and accelerated particles to the user community [1]. While the X-rays sources driven by kHz lasers such as high-order harmonic beamline...
The EuPRAXIA@SPARC_LAB facility is the beam driven pillar of the EuPRAXIA project which is expected to provide by the end of 2028 the first European Research Infrastructure dedicated to demonstrating usability of plasma accelerators delivering high brightness beams up to 1-5 GeV for users.
Among the possible EuPRAXIA@SPARC_LAB applications the realization of a short wavelength Free Electron...
DAΦNE-Light is the INFN-Frascati National Laboratories (LNF) synchrotron radiation facility. The LNF have a longstanding tradition of using synchrotron radiation for interdisciplinary studies that started with the ADONE accelerator and is now continuing with DAΦNE. Because of its low energy (510 Mev) and high electron current (higher than 1 A) DAΦNE provides a high photon flux also in the...
Quantum electrodynamics (QED) is the best understood quantum field theory. High-precision tests are being performed using free particles (e.g., the electron anomalous magnetic moment [1]). Many bound electron systems are being studied and compared to the most advanced calculations. One can cite hydrogen, positronium, muonium, highly charged, few electron ions[2] and exotic atoms (atoms in...
Kaonic atoms represent a unique laboratory for the study of the antikaon-nucleus interaction at threshold and investigate the low-energy quantum chromodynamics (QCD) in the strangeness sector. State-of-the-art X-ray detectors and modern experimental techniques allow to perform high-precision X-ray kaonic atoms spectroscopy, leading to fundamental input for nuclear, particle, and astrophysics...
The nuclear E2 resonance effect occurs when atomic de-excitation energy is closely matched by nuclear excitation energy. It produces an attenuation of some of the atomic x-ray lines from resonant versus normal isotope target. The investigation of the nuclear E2 resonance effect in kaonic ticklish atoms could provide important information about strong kaon nucleus interaction. In the past, only...
We show a novel ML and differentiable programming calibration technique and the gains it yields on the energy response of the Silicon Drift Detectors used in the VIP-2 underground experiment. This technique shows an improvement of 10 eV on the previous state-of-the-art in the VIP collaboration, in terms of Full Width at Half Maximum at 8 keV. The SDD energy resolution is a key observable in...
Pauli's Exclusion Principle (PEP) is the basis of the stability of matter and many other phenomena relevant to physics, astrophysics, cosmology, and even biology. It is related to the spin-statistics theorem, and possible violations of this relation have been searched for since its inception. Violations of the PEP may come from various Beyond Standard Model descriptions, including Quantum...
One of the main conundrums of physics is the quantum-to-classical transition. Models of Dynamical wave function Collapse (DCMs) explain it by a progressive reduction of the quantum superposition, proportional to the increase in mass of the system under consideration. Gravity-related collapse models, like the one developed by Diosi and Penrose (DP), aroused growing interest in the last decades,...
From liquid metal jet to laser driven x-ray sources, a variety of new, compact x-ray sources are emerging in between the gold standard of synchrotron facilities and the widely used standard laboratory x-ray sources.
Translating, adapting, or redesigning x-ray imaging techniques specifically for these novel sources is paramount to achieve the best performance and serve the society by...
Here, our aim is to study through an advanced X-ray spectromicroscopy (SPEM) analysis the first stages of growth of ultrathin Bi2Se3 films on the same substrate with particular attention to the film stoichiometry and interaction with the substrate underneath. To this end, Bi2Se3 films have been grown on n-doped silicon (001) wafers with native oxide. The X-ray photoelectron spectromicroscopy...
Recently, in the framework of the AVATAR X project (funded by the Italian Ministry for University and Research), we developed energy-resolved photon counting (ERPC) X-ray scanners based on CZT detectors for contaminant detection in food industry. In this work, we will present the results from the analysis of energy-resolved X-ray images from CZT linear array detectors. The key steps of image...
New instruments require detectors exploiting high dynamics to cover a large energy band and very high performance in terms of efficiency, spectroscopy, imaging, and, in particular after the launch of IXPE, high polarimetric capabilities. Recently, ASI funded a project (“3D-CZT Module for spectroscopic imaging, timing and polarimetry in hard X-/soft γ-rays satellite mission - 3DCaTM”) dedicated...
Hydrogenated amorphous silicon has been used since many years in the fabrication of devices related to optoelectronics, such as solar cells, thin-film transistors and other applications. To obtain a detector grade device it is necessary to reduce the number of dangling bonds inside the material by introducing hydrogen into the material to passivate them. 10-14% is the typical value of...
The EuPRAXIA Advanced Photon Sources (EuAPS) project, led by INFN in collaboration with CNR and the University of Rome Tor Vergata, foresees the construction of a laser-driven “betatron” X-ray user facility at the LNF SPARC_LAB laboratory [1]. EuAPS has received financial support from the Italian PNRR plan for the creation of a new research infrastructure.
While the EuPRAXIA@SPARC_LAB...
The European XFEL facility started operation in 2017 and provides 10 Hz trains of unpreceded high brilliance X-ray pulses at MHz repetition rate to seven different experimental end stations. Such unique beam delivery capabilities provide new research opportunities in numerous fields and namely Biology, Chemistry, Material Science but also Physics and Astrophysics. The megahertz operation...
The collaboration between INFN-Trieste, TIFPA, FBK, the Politecnico di Milano and Elettra-Sincrotrone Trieste over the past few years has led to the design, production and deployment of two state-of-the-art instruments that now equip the XRF/XAFS beamline of the SESAME synchrotron and the XAFS beamline of Elettra.
Both these instruments are 64-channels modular detection systems based on...
Low Temperature Detectors (LTDs) are thermal detectors that are operated at cryogenic temperatures and measure the energy deposition via conversion to heat. Unlike HPGe, their spectral resolution is not limited by the statistics of charge creation and collection, and they can thus achieve exceptional energy resolutions.
This performance comes at a price. The cryogenic environment (the...
Single photon counting detectors developed at PSI, like MYTHEN and EIGER, are the detector of choice of many imaging ad diffraction experiments at synchrotrons and the JUNGFRAU charge integrating detector is widely used at Free Electron Lasers thanks to its reliability and large dynamic range.
In this presentation we will discuss the new developments carried out at PSI to improve the...
LaBr3:Ce crystals have been introduced for radiation imaging in medical physics, with photomultiplier or single SiPM readout. An R&D was pursued with 1" LaBr3:Ce to realize compact large area detectors with SiPM array readout, aiming at high light yields, good energy resolution, good detector linearity and fast time response for low-energy X-rays.
A natural application was found inside...
Timepix4 is the readout chip produced by the Medipix4 international Collaboration for hybrid pixel detector assemblies, developed to provide particle identification and tracking with high spatial and timing resolution. The chip is composed of 448 x 512 pixels with a size of 55 µm x 55 µm, which can be coupled to a sensor with a matching pixel structure, for a total active area of about 7...
The Italian Space Agency (ASI) plays a key role in the filfilment of space missions, contributing to the scientific, technological and economic progress of our country. The agency accomplishes space experiments by collaborating with scientific and industrial entities, supporting them to the realization of new products able to achieve unprecedeted results as the fundamental information on the...
IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) is the Small Explorer space mission developed in a partnership between NASA and ASI that is unveiling the polarized X-ray sky in the 2-8 kev energy band. IXPE was launched on December 9th 2021 and it is performing X-ray spectro-polarimetry of astrophysical sources, including imaging-polarimetry for extended ones and timing-polarimetry for X-ray...
Athena (Advanced Telescope for High Energy Astrophysics) is an ESA Large Class mission, at present under a re-defnition "design-to-cost” phase, planned to a prospective launch at L1 orbit on 2nd half of 2030s.
It will be an observatory alternatively focusing in its focal plane 2 complementary instruments: the X-IFU, a TES-based kilo-pixel array able to perform simultaneous high-grade energy...
In the last decades, the use of Compton telescopes has greatly increased in astronomy. Compton telescopes are designed to perform X-ray and γ-ray polarimetry of celestial bodies like neutron stars, quasars, supernova remnants and binary black holes. In this context, the ComPol project involves the implementation of a Compton telescope in a 1U CubeSat nanosatellite to perform polarimetric...
PANDORA (Plasmas for Astrophysics Nuclear Decays Observation and Radiation for Archaeometry) is an INFN project aiming at measuring, for the first time, possible variations of in-plasma β-decay lifetimes in isotopes of astrophysical interest, as a function of thermodynamical conditions of the in-laboratory controlled plasma environment. Theoretical predictions say that the ionization state can...
FLASH radiotherapy (RT) is attracting a significant interest since the first investigations carried out in 2014 [1]. Several preclinical studies worldwide have demonstrated that ultra-high dose rate (UHDR) beams produce an improvement of normal tissue sparing, compared to conventional dose-rate RT, while maintaining same tumor control probability (FLASH effect). However, to fully understand...
X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is a successful technique frequently used for the elemental analysis of cultural heritage materials. It is non-invasive, equipment can be miniaturized and made portable and it allows addressing crucial issues such as fabrication technology, authenticity and provenance of the artefacts.
Depending on components’ selection (i.e. the primary source, the detector and the...
X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) analysis with energy dispersive spectrometers (ED-XRF) is a versatile, multi-elemental analytical technique able to determine the major, minor and trace elements of a broad range of different materials in a non-invasive way and in short measuring times. The non-destructive capabilities of XRF are indeed particularly suited to research in the field of cultural heritage...
X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) is a valuable analytical technique for investigating the properties of metals. The MITIQO project is focused on using XRF to identify the metals' content and oxidation states in various edible products, with a particular emphasis on liquids such as wine and oil. In this study, we showcase the MITIQO experimental apparatus at the INFN laboratory of Frascati, based on...
Porcelains represent the basis of the ceramic discipline. The compositions for the different types of industrial porcelain are presented graphically as part of the K2O-Al2O3-SiO2 phase diagram. This work presents a study conducted on four porcelain formulations. Compositions made by mixing materials such as kaolin, quartz, potassium feldspar and talc were studied. Results of a study are...
