INternational School on modern PhYsics and REsearch
Below is the list of experiments offered to INSPYRE participants on Tuesday and Wednesday. Each participant will attend four of the five available experiments—one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Three experiments will be assigned, while participants will be asked to choose their fourth. Further instructions and a dedicated selection form will be sent by email one week before the School begins. For some experiments, participants will need to bring their own laptop and download materials in advance. All necessary files and instructions will be provided beforehand.
Nuclear Physics Laboratory (E. Pagano, P. Russotto, INFN-LNS)
The laboratory activity will focus on the acquisition of signals produced by alpha particles emitted from a mixed radioactive source featuring three characteristic peaks (Pu–Am–Cm). The energy spectrum will be measured using an experimental setup consisting of a vacuum chamber housing the radioactive source and a silicon detector equipped with its dedicated preamplification electronics. After connecting the in-vacuum electronics to the external amplification stage, the chamber will be evacuated and the bias voltage required to
fully deplete the silicon detector will be applied. The electronic signals will then be processed by the data acquisition system to reconstruct the energy spectrum. Finally, the spectrum will be energy-calibrated, the energy resolution will be determined, and appropriate figures of merit will be calculated to quantify the system’s ability to resolve the three alpha-particle peaks.
For this activity students should bring their own pc.
Vacuum Thermal Evaporation of Gold Thin layer and Fabrication of Free-Standing Metallic films (A. Massara, INFN-LNS)
This laboratory experiment offers a comprehensive introduction to materials nanotechnology, combining Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) with surface engineering techniques. Students will learn how to fabricate and harvest an ultra-thin, free-standing gold layer by utilizing a releasing agent pre-applied onto microscope slides to overcome interfacial adhesion forces and isolate the metallic film.
No tools needed for this activity.
Monte Carlo simulation of the interaction of radiation with matter using Geant4 (L. Pandola, G.A.P. Cirrone, A. Sciuto, INFN-LNS)
Geant4 is toolkit to simulate the interaction between radiation and matter, which is widely used in many physics domains. This activity includes a general lecture, followed by a hands-on session: a minimal demonstrator Geant4 application will be provided, which will be used to study quantitatively the interaction of radiation by different materials.
Virtual machine to install on a personal laptop.
Environmental Radioactivity Laboratory (G. Rapisarda, Università di Catania, INFN-LNS)
The first part of the Environmental Radioactivity Laboratory will consist of an introductory seminar providing an overview of environmental radioactivity. It will describe radioactive contributions from both natural and anthropogenic nuclei, with a particular focus on the issue of radon gas. Furthermore, an overview of the experimental techniques and detectors used to study environmental radioactivity will be presented, with specific reference to gamma-ray spectrometry. The second part will be devoted to an hands-on activity focused on measuring a natural radioactive source using gamma-ray spectrometry and analyzing a dataset, with the goal of determining the decay constant of a radioactive element.
No tools needed for this activity.
Exploring Plasma: From Light to Electromagnetic Waves, from the Universe to Particle
Accelerators (D. Mascali, A. Pidatella, G. Finocchiaro, INFN-LNS)
But how can we measure the properties of a plasma without directly perturbing it?
Through an interactive, hands-on laboratory experience, students will explore two diagnostic techniques based on the interaction between plasma and electromagnetic radiation: optical emission spectroscopy and radiofrequency (RF) polarimetry.
In the first activity, students will investigate how the light emitted by a plasma provides a fundamental diagnostic tool for determining its physical parameters. By analysing broadband visible-light sources using a spectrometer, they will learn to identify the characteristic spectral signatures of different elements and understand how the intensities of emission lines can be related to the physical properties of the emitting source.
In the second activity, students will observe how a magnetized plasma can modify the polarization state of an electromagnetic wave propagating through it. They will explore the fundamental principles of RF polarimetry and its application to retrieving information about electron density.
These activities will give students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience with measurement instruments, data acquisition, and the interpretation of experimental results.
They will discover how seemingly invisible phenomena can be investigated through light and electromagnetic waves, and how the same diagnostic techniques can be applied across widely different fields of scientific research.
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