The learning objectives of the course are the following:
With reference to "Dublin descriptors", this Course contributes to provide the following skills:
Knowledge and understanding:
Capability to apply the knowledge in order to:
Autonomy of judgment:
Communication skills:
Should the circumstances require online or blended teaching, appropriate modifications to what is hereby stated may be introduced, in order to achieve the main objectives of the course.
Part I
1. Techniques and laboratory instrumentation
Sensors for the measurement of physical quantities - Analog and digital sensors - Data acquisition from sensors - Digital multimetere- Analog and digital oscilloscopes - Vacuum techniques - Elements for vacumm production and measurement - Measurement of radiations from Infrared to ultraviolet - Optical fibers - Spectrophotometers - Radioactive sources
2. Radiation Detectors
Interaction of charged particle with matter - Bethe-Block relation - Range - Straggling - Energy loss of electrons and positrons - Photon interaction - Photoelectric effect - Compton Effect - Pair production - Electromagnetic showers - Particle detectors - Measure of energy, momentum, position, mass and charge of particles - General properties of a detector: sensitivity, resolution, efficiency, dead time - Gas detectors - Ionization chambers - Geiger counters - Solid state detectors - Strip, drift and pixel detectors - Radiation damage - Scintillation detectors - Light yield - Photomultipliers - Light guides and WLS fibers - APD and SiPM.
3. Elements of Electronics
Pulse signals from detectors - Analog and digital signals - Propagation of signals - Coaxial cables - SIgnal Generators- Power supply - Electronics for Nuclear Physics - The NIM standard - Linear electronics: preamplifier, amplifier, shapers - Basic knowledge of logic electronics: OR, AND, NOT circuits - Analog-to-digital converters (ADC and QDC) - Discriminators - Coincidence circuits - Counters - Trigger systems - Data acquisition - Digital pulse processing
4. Data analysis and simulation techniques
Knowledge of elementary statistics - Central values and dispersion indexes - Experimental distributions - Gauss and Poisson distributions - Experimental errors - SIgnificance test - Data analysis techniques in nuclear physics experiments - Spectra analysis - Background subtraction - Non linear fits . Multiparametric analysis - The ROOT software - SImulation of physical processed - Monte Carlo methods the GEANT package for detector simulation
Part II: Laboratory experiments
1) Measurements carried out by means of Arduino board
2) Photoelectric effect and the measurement of the Planck constant
3) Study of discrete and continuous light spectra with a digital spectrophotometer
4) Detection of electrons with a Geiger counter and study of the absorption coefficient
5) Study of the light absorption at different frequencies
6) Gamma spectrometry and absorption coefficient with scintillators
7) Alpha spectrometry and study of energy loss with silicon detectors
8) Measurement of the energy spectrum of a beta source
For the items concerning the interaction of particle and radiation with matter, particle detectors and electronics see one of the following textbooks:
1. William R. Leo, Techniques for Nuclear and Particle Physics Experiments, Springer-Verlag
2. Glenn F. Knoll, Radiation Detection and Measurement, John Wiley and Sons
3. Claude Leroy and Pier-Giorgio Rancoita, Principles of Radiation Interaction in Matter and Detection, World Scientific
4. C.Grupen, B.Schwartz, Particle Detectors, Cambridge
For items concerning statistics and data analysis techniques:
5. J.R.Taylor, Introduzione all’analisi degli errori, Zanichelli
For Arduino:
6. B.W. Evans, Arduino Programming Notebook, Creative Commons
Author | Title | Publisher | Year | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|
William R. Leo | Techniques for Nuclear and Particle Physics Experiments | Springer-Verlag | 1994 | 978-3-642-57920-2 |
Glenn F. Knoll | Radiation Detection and Measurement, 4th edition | John Wiley and Sons | 2010 | 978-0-470-13148-0 |
C.Leroy, P.G. Rancoita | Principles of Radiation Interaction in Matter and Detection, 2nd edition | World Scientific | 2009 | 978-981-281-829-4 |
C.Grupen, B.Schwartz | Particle Detectors | Cambridge | 2008 | 9781281254405 |
J.R.Taylor | Introduzione all’analisi degli errori, seconda edizione | Zanichelli | 1999 | 978880817656 |
B.W. Evans | Arduino Programming Notebook | Creative Commons | 2007 |
Subjects | Text References | |
---|---|---|
1 | Arduino (~ 5 h) | 6) |
2 | Sensors (~ 3 h) | Slides |
3 | Radiactive sources (~ 2 h) | 1) 2) 3) 4) |
4 | Energy loss of heavy charged particles (~ 3 h) | 1) 2) 3) 4) |
5 | Energy loss of electrons (~ 2 h) | 1) 2) 3) 4) |
6 | Multiple scattering (~ 0.5 h) | 1) 2) 3) 4) |
7 | Interaction of photons (~ 2 h) | 1) 2) 3) 4) |
8 | Electromagnetic showers (~ 1 h) | 1) 2) 3) 4) |
9 | General characteristics of detectors (~ 2 h) | 1) 2) 3) 4) |
10 | Particle identification (~ 1 h) | 1) 2) 3) 4) |
11 | Poisson distribution and applications (~ 2 h) | 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) |
12 | Digital multimeter (~ 1 h) | Slides |
13 | Gas detectors (~ 3 h) | 1) 2) 3) 4) |
14 | Scintillation detectors (~ 3 h) | 1) 2) 3) 4) |
15 | Photodectors (~ 2 h) | 1) 2) 3) 4) |
16 | Gamma spectrum (~ 1 h) | 1) 2) 3) 4) |
17 | Semiconductor detectors (~ 4 h) | 1) 2) 3) 4) |
18 | Vacuum techniques (~ 2 h) | Slides |
19 | Basics of electronics (~ 4 h) | 1) 2) 3) 4) |
20 | Monte Carlo techniques (~ 2 h) | Slides |
At the end of the course, the experiments carried out during laboratory shifts will be randomly assigned to each student, which has to analyze the data and write a report (15-20 pages) that must be sent 1 week before the oral exam. The students will be questioned about all the reports they produced and about the other contents of the course.
The final evaluation will take into account the following aspects:
The verification of learning will be done remotely if the circumstances would require online or blended teaching.
The following list of questions is not exhaustive but includes just some examples.
Charged particles interaction with matter and energy loss - Gamma interaction with matter - Working principle of a gas detector - Scintillation detectors - Properties of a scintillator - Energy resolution of a detector - Time resolution of a detector - Estimation of the geometrical acceptance of a detector - Calibration of a detector - Analog to digital converter - Discriminators - Coincidence circuit and spurious coincidences rate - Examples of Monte Carlo simulations.