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Guerzoni, M.

Publications and source records attributed to Guerzoni, M..

8 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Design and implementation of the cosmic ray tagger system for the ICARUS detector at FNAL

The ICARUS-T600 Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber is operating at Fermilab at shallow depth and thus exposed to a high flux of cosmic rays that can fake neutrino interactions. A cosmic ray tagging (CRT) system (∼ 1100 m 2 ), surrounding the cryostat with two layers of fiber embedded plastic scintillators, was developed to mitigate the cosmic ray induced background. Using nanosecond-level timing information, the CRT can distinguish incoming cosmic rays from outgoing particles from neutrino interactions in the TPC. In this paper an overview of the CRT system, its installation and commissioning at Fermilab, and its performance are discussed.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2024

Constraints on directionality effect of nuclear recoils in a liquid argon time projection chamber

The direct search for dark matter in the form of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMP) is performed by detecting nuclear recoils produced in a target material from the WIMP elastic scattering. The experimental identification of the direction of the WIMP-induced nuclear recoils is a crucial asset in this field, as it enables unmistakable modulation signatures for dark matter. The Recoil Directionality (ReD) experiment was designed to probe for such directional sensitivity in argon dual-phase time projection chambers (TPC), that are widely considered for current and future direct dark matter searches. The TPC of ReD was irradiated with neutrons at the INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Sud. Data were taken with nuclear recoils of known directions and kinetic energy of 72 keV, which is within the range of interest for WIMP-induced signals in argon. The direction-dependent liquid argon charge recombination model by Cataudella et al. was adopted and a likelihood statistical analysis was performed, which gave no indications of significant dependence of the detector response to the recoil direction. The aspect ratio R of the initial ionization cloud is $R < 1.072$ with 90 % confidence level.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2023

Study of cosmogenic activation above ground for the DarkSide-20k experiment

The activation of materials due to exposure to cosmic rays may become an important background source for experiments investigating rare event phenomena. DarkSide-20k, currently under construction at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, is a direct detection experiment for galactic dark matter particles, using a two-phase liquid-argon Time Projection Chamber (TPC) filled with 49.7 tonnes (active mass) of Underground Argon (UAr) depleted in 39 Ar. Despite the outstanding capability of discriminating γ / β background in argon TPCs, this background must be considered because of induced dead time or accidental coincidences mimicking dark-matter signals and it is relevant for low-threshold electron-counting measurements. Here, the cosmogenic activity of relevant long-lived radioisotopes induced in the experiment has been estimated to set requirements and procedures during preparation of the experiment and to check that it is not dominant over primordial radioactivity; particular attention has been paid to the activation of the 120 t of UAr used in DarkSide-20k. Expected exposures above ground and production rates, either measured or calculated, have been considered in detail. From the simulated counting rates in the detector due to cosmogenic isotopes, it is concluded that activation in copper and stainless steel is not problematic. The activity of 39 Ar induced during extraction, purification and transport on surface is evaluated to be 2.8% of the activity measured in UAr by DarkSide-50 experiment, which used the same underground source, and thus considered acceptable. Other isotopes in the UAr such as 37 Ar and 3 H are shown not to be relevant due to short half-life and assumed purification methods.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2023

ICARUS at the Fermilab Short-Baseline Neutrino program: initial operation

The ICARUS collaboration employed the 760-ton T600 detector in a successful 3-year physics run at the underground LNGS laboratory, performing a sensitive search for LSND-like anomalous $\nu _e$ appearance in the CERN Neutrino to Gran Sasso beam, which contributed to the constraints on the allowed neutrino oscillation parameters to a narrow region around 1 eV$^2$. After a significant overhaul at CERN, the T600 detector has been installed at Fermilab. In 2020 the cryogenic commissioning began with detector cool down, liquid argon filling and recirculation. ICARUS then started its operations collecting the first neutrino events from the booster neutrino beam (BNB) and the Neutrinos at the Main Injector (NuMI) beam off-axis, which were used to test the ICARUS event selection, reconstruction and analysis algorithms. ICARUS successfully completed its commissioning phase in June 2022. The first goal of the ICARUS data taking will be a study to either confirm or refute the claim by Neutrino-4 short-baseline reactor experiment. ICARUS will also perform measurement of neutrino cross sections with the NuMI beam and several Beyond Standard Model searches. After the first year of operations, ICARUS will search for evidence of sterile neutrinos jointly with the Short-Baseline Near Detector, within the Short-Baseline Neutrino program. In this paper, the main activities carried out during the overhauling and installation phases are highlighted. Preliminary technical results from the ICARUS commissioning data with the BNB and NuMI beams are presented both in terms of performance of all ICARUS subsystems and of capability to select and reconstruct neutrino events.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2023

Measurement of isotopic separation of argon with the prototype of the cryogenic distillation plant Aria for dark matter searches

The Aria cryogenic distillation plant, located in Sardinia, Italy, is a key component of the DarkSide-20k experimental program for WIMP dark matter searches at the INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Italy. Aria is designed to purify the argon, extracted from underground wells in Colorado, USA, and used as the DarkSide-20k target material, to detector-grade quality. In this paper, we report the first measurement of argon isotopic separation by distillation with the 26 m tall Aria prototype. We discuss the measurement of the operating parameters of the column and the observation of the simultaneous separation of the three stable argon isotopes: ${}^{36}\hbox {Ar}$, ${}^{38}\textrm{Ar}$, and ${}^{40}\textrm{Ar}$. We also provide a detailed comparison of the experimental results with commercial process simulation software. This measurement of isotopic separation of argon is a significant achievement for the project, building on the success of the initial demonstration of isotopic separation of nitrogen using the same equipment in 2019.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2021

CUORE opens the door to tonne-scale cryogenics experiments

The past few decades have seen major developments in the design and operation of cryogenic particle detectors. This technology offers an extremely good energy resolution – comparable to semiconductor detectors – and a wide choice of target materials, making low temperature calorimetric detectors ideal for a variety of particle physics applications. Rare event searches have continued to require ever greater exposures, which has driven them to ever larger cryogenic detectors, with the CUORE experiment being the first to reach a tonne-scale, mK-cooled, experimental mass. CUORE, designed to search for neutrinoless double beta decay, has been operational since 2017 at a temperature of about 10 mK. This result has been attained by the use of an unprecedentedly large cryogenic infrastructure called the CUORE cryostat: conceived, designed and commissioned for this purpose. In this article the main characteristics and features of the cryogenic facility developed for the CUORE experiment are highlighted. In this work, a brief introduction of the evolution of the field and of the past cryogenic facilities are given. The motivation behind the design and development of the CUORE cryogenic facility is detailed as are the steps taken toward realization, commissioning, and operation of the CUORE cryostat. The major challenges overcome by the collaboration and the solutions implemented throughout the building of the cryogenic facility will be discussed along with the potential improvements for future facilities. The success of CUORE has opened the door to a new generation of large-scale cryogenic facilities in numerous fields of science. Broader implications of the incredible feat achieved by the CUORE collaboration on the future cryogenic facilities in various fields ranging from neutrino and dark matter experiments to quantum computing will be examined.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2021

ICARUS: new voyage to sterile neutrino search in the Short Baseline Program

The ICARUS collaboration operated the 760-ton T600 detector in a successful three-year physics run at the underground LNGS laboratories studying neutrino oscillations with the CNGS neutrino beam from CERN, and searching for atmospheric neutrino interactions. ICARUS performed a sensitive search for LSND-like anomalous νe appearance in the CNGS beam, which contributed to the constraints on the allowed parameters to a narrow region around $Δm^2=1 e\text{V}^2$, where all the experimental results can be coherently accommodated at 90% C.L. After a significant overhaul at CERN, the T600 detector has been installed at Fermilab. In 2020 cryogenic commissioning began with detector cool down, liquid Argon filling and recirculation. ICARUS has started operations and is presently in its commissioning phase with the aim of collecting its first neutrino events from the Booster Neutrino Beam and the NuMI off-axis beam. The main goal of the first year of ICARUS data taking will then be the definitive verification of the recent claim by NEUTRINO-4 short baseline reactor experiment both in the $ν_μ$ channel with the BNB and in the $ν_e$ with NuMI. After the first year of operations, ICARUS will commence its search for evidence of a sterile neutrino jointly with the SBND near detector, within the Short Baseline Neutrino (SBN) program. The ICARUS exposure to the NuMI beam will also give the possibility for other physics studies such as light dark matter searches and neutrino-Argon cross section measurements. The proposed contribution addresses ICARUS achievements, its status and plans for the new run at Fermilab and the ongoing developments of the analysis tools needed to fulfill its physics program.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗