The course aims to provide in-depth knowledge of some types of detectors, both from the theoretical and the practical point of views, through laboratory experiments.
Course Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of electro-magnetism, quantum physics and programming.
Teaching Methods
The course is subdivided in 16 hours of taught lectures and 48 hours of laboratory. When in lab, students will be always supported by the teacher, to face together all problems that could arise.
Assessment Methods
Oral examination on the topics covered in the lectures. Discussion of the thesis concerning the laboratory measurements. Realization of one of the laboratory experiments.
Texts
W.R. Leo "Techniques for nuclear and particle physics experiments", Springer-Verlag, 1994. G.F. Knoll "Radiation Detection and measurement", John Wiley & Sons, 2000. Slides from the lectures.
Contents
The first module (3 CFU) is dedicated to lectures on scintillation detectors: general characteristics, re-emission law, organic and inorganic scintillators. Photo-detection devices: PMT, photodiodes, APD, Silicon PM. Liquified noble-gas TPC detectors for rare event physics. The laboratory part is focused on the following experiences: - SiPM characterization: breakdown, noise, gain. - study of the distribution of cosmic rays as a function of the zenith angle. - measurement of the life-time of the muon at rest. The second module (3 CFU) is devoted to lectures concerning gas detectors: principle of operation, performance, limitations of classical gas detectors; Micropattern Gaseous Detectors. Laboratory activities include conducting some experiments on the following topics: - Characterization of a Triple-GEM detector: signal analysis, gain measurement, gain uniformity
