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Pierre Auger Collaboration(Abreu, P. et al), & Pastor, S. (2013). Techniques for measuring aerosol attenuation using the Central Laser Facility at the Pierre Auger Observatory. J. Instrum., 8, P04009–28pp.
Abstract: The Pierre Auger Observatory in Malargue, Argentina, is designed to study the properties of ultra-high energy cosmic rays with energies above 10(18) eV. It is a hybrid facility that employs a Fluorescence Detector to perform nearly calorimetric measurements of Extensive Air Shower energies. To obtain reliable calorimetric information from the FD, the atmospheric conditions at the observatory need to be continuously monitored during data acquisition. In particular, light attenuation due to aerosols is an important atmospheric correction. The aerosol concentration is highly variable, so that the aerosol attenuation needs to be evaluated hourly. We use light from the Central Laser Facility, located near the center of the observatory site, having an optical signature comparable to that of the highest energy showers detected by the FD. This paper presents two procedures developed to retrieve the aerosol attenuation of fluorescence light from CLF laser shots. Cross checks between the two methods demonstrate that results from both analyses are compatible, and that the uncertainties are well understood. The measurements of the aerosol attenuation provided by the two procedures are currently used at the Pierre Auger Observatory to reconstruct air shower data.
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NEXT Collaboration(Alvarez, V. et al), Carcel, S., Cervera-Villanueva, A., Diaz, J., Ferrario, P., Gil, A., et al. (2013). Initial results of NEXT-DEMO, a large-scale prototype of the NEXT-100 experiment. J. Instrum., 8, P04002–25pp.
Abstract: NEXT-DEMO is a large-scale prototype of the NEXT-100 detector, an electroluminescent time projection chamber that will search for the neutrinoless double beta decay of Xe-136 using 100-150 kg of enriched xenon gas. NEXT-DEMO was built to prove the expected performance of NEXT-100, namely, energy resolution better than 1% FWHM at 2.5MeV and event topological reconstruction. In this paper we describe the prototype and its initial results. A resolution of 1.75% FWHM at 511 keV (which extrapolates to 0.8% FWHM at 2.5 MeV) was obtained at 10 bar pressure using a gamma-ray calibration source. Also, a basic study of the event topology along the longitudinal coordinate is presented, proving that it is possible to identify the distinct dE/dx of electron tracks in high-pressure xenon using an electroluminescence TPC.
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Verdu-Andres, S., Amaldi, U., & Faus-Golfe, A. (2013). CABOTO, a high-gradient linac for hadrontherapy. J. Radiat. Res., 54, 155–161.
Abstract: The field of hadrontherapy has grown rapidly in recent years. At present the therapeutic beam is provided by a cyclotron or a synchrotron, but neither cyclotrons nor synchrotrons present the best performances for hadrontherapy. The new generation of accelerators for hadrontherapy should allow fast active energy modulation and have a high repetition rate, so that moving organs can be appropriately treated in a reasonable time. In addition, a reduction of the dimensions and cost of the accelerators for hadrontherapy would make the acquisition and operation of a hadrontherapy facility more affordable, which would translate into great benefits for the potential hadrontherapy patients. The 'cyclinac', an accelerator concept that combines a cyclotron with a high-frequency linear accelerator (linac), is a fast-cycling machine specifically conceived to allow for fast active energy modulation. The present paper focuses on CABOTO (CArbon BOoster for Therapy in Oncology), a compact, efficient high-frequency linac that can accelerate C6+ ions and H-2 molecules from 150-410 MeV/u in similar to 24 m. The paper presents the latest design of CABOTO and discusses its performances.
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Alesini, D., Boni, R., Di Pirro, G., Di Raddo, R., Ferrario, M., Gallo, A., et al. (2013). The C-Band accelerating structures for SPARC photoinjector energy upgrade. J. Instrum., 8, P05004–24pp.
Abstract: The use of C-Band structures for electron acceleration and production of high quality beams has been proposed and adopted in several linac projects all over the world. The two main projects that adopted such type of structures are the Japanese Free Electron Laser (FEL) project in Spring-8 and the SwissFEL project at Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI). Also the energy upgrade of the SPARC photo-injector at LNF-INFN (Italy) from 150 to more than 240 MeV will be done by replacing a low gradient S-Band accelerating structure with two C-band structures. The structures are Traveling Wave (TW) and Constant Impedance (CI), have symmetric axial input couplers and have been optimized to work with a SLED RF input pulse. The paper presents the design criteria of the structures, the realization procedure and the low and high power RF test results on a prototype. The high power tests have been carried out by the Frascati INFN Laboratories in close collaboration with the Japanese Laboratory KEK. Experimental results confirmed the feasibility of the operation of the prototype at 50 MV/m with about 10(6) breakdowns per pulse per meter. Such high gradients have not been reached before in C-Band systems and demonstrated the possibility to use C-band accelerators, if needed, at such high field level. The results of the internal inspection of the structure after the high power test are also presented.
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NEXT Collaboration(Alvarez, V. et al), Carcel, S., Cervera-Villanueva, A., Diaz, J., Ferrario, P., Gil, A., et al. (2013). Ionization and scintillation response of high-pressure xenon gas to alpha particles. J. Instrum., 8, P05025–35pp.
Abstract: High-pressure xenon gas is an attractive detection medium for a variety of applications in fundamental and applied physics. In this paper we study the ionization and scintillation detection properties of xenon gas at 10 bar pressure. For this purpose, we use a source of alpha particles in the NEXT-DEMO time projection chamber, the large scale prototype of the NEXT-100 neutrinoless double beta decay experiment, in three different drift electric field configurations. We measure the ionization electron drift velocity and longitudinal diffusion, and compare our results to expectations based on available electron scattering cross sections on pure xenon. In addition, two types of measurements addressing the connection between the ionization and scintillation yields are performed. On the one hand we observe, for the first time in xenon gas, large event-by-event correlated fluctuations between the ionization and scintillation signals, similar to that already observed in liquid xenon. On the other hand, we study the field dependence of the average scintillation and ionization yields. Both types of measurements may shed light on the mechanism of electron-ion recombination in xenon gas for highly-ionizing particles. Finally, by comparing the response of alpha particles and electrons in NEXT-DEMO, we find no evidence for quenching of the primary scintillation light produced by alpha particles in the xenon gas.
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