Brian Cox Breaks Silence: "The Universe Existed Before Big Bang"

Modern Science explains the origin of the universe with the Big Bang Theory.

According to this theory, our world emerged from the explosion of singularity, a point in space-time where energy density and mass approach infinity, and all dimensions reach zero.

But Recently, Brian Cox has made a bold announcement stating that the universe has always existed and the Big Bang Theory is wrong.

The most efficient Radionuclide Identifying Device (RID)

Detects and identifies nuclides in mixed, shielded and heavily masked configurations including Special Nuclear Material (SNM).

The DiscoveRAD is ultra-compact, rugged, sensitive, lightweight and.... is even game for a dip to 10 meters 1(IP68)!

Spectrometry at up to 1 million cps between 10 KeV to 1 MeV.

Law enforcement, customs, and other agencies are using RIDs as part of a national strategy to stop illicit trafficking of radioactive material. When radiation sources are detected by screening devices such as radiation portal monitors or radiation pagers, RIDs are used to analyze the nature of the radioactive source and determine if it presents a high-level threat.

High Sensitivity Multifunction Compton Camera

Compton imaging exploits inelastic scattering, known as Compton scattering, using a Compton camera consisting of a scatterer detector in the front layer and an absorber detector in the back layer. Compton imaging can discriminate gamma rays over a wide energy range from several  hundred keV to several MeV. Damavan Imaging was founded in 2014 to develop its 8 Temporal Imaging proprietary patents and software. In 2015 it won a big grant from the French Nuclear Waste Agency, ANDRA, to develop a Compton camera able to image low activity waste. In 2018 Damavan Imaging won a Horizon 2020 EU SME Award. Product Introduction:  Temporal Imaging is a new concept for gamma ray imaging that uses both light and time distribution of each scintillation event to localize precisely each scintillation event in space (X,Y,Z), time (T) and energy (E). This new imaging concept allows an improvement on the voxel size for each scintillation event (1x1x2mm) on each of the two detector plates. It also allows a coincidence veto between the 2 Compton plates. Temporal δ Delta is the first device to use this new concept. It has an exceptional Signal/noise ratio thanks to the time veto between it’s 2 plates. The Temporal δ Delta V3 is equipped with a small spectroscopic CZT detector and also enable isotope identification, simple dosimetry and 4 Pi source detection. Temporal δ is the best Compton imager (400 KeV - 3000 KeV), excellent spectrometer (50 KeV - 3000 KeV), stable photon counter with dose estimation.

10 μm-thick four-quadrant transmissive silicon photodiodes for beam position monitor application: electrical characterization and gamma irradiation effects

Abstract:

Silicon photodiodes are very useful devices as X-ray beam monitors in synchrotron radiation beamlines. Owing to Si absorption, devices thinner than 10 µm are needed to achieve transmission over 90% for energies above 10 keV. 

In this work, new segmented four-quadrant diodes for beam alignment purposes are fabricated on both ultrathin (10 µm-thick) and bulk silicon substrates. Four-quadrant diodes implementing different design parameters as well as auxiliary test structures (single diodes and MOS capacitors) are studied. An extensive electrical characterization, including current-voltage (I-V) and capacitance-voltage (C-V) techniques, is carried out on non-irradiated and gamma-irradiated devices up to 100 Mrad doses. Special attention is devoted to the study of radiation-induced charge build-up in diode interquadrant isolation dielectric, as well as its impact on device interquadrant resistance. 

Finally, the devices have been characterized with an 8 keV laboratory X-ray source at 108 ph/s and in BL13-XALOC ALBA Synchrotron beamline with 1011 ph/s and energies from 6 to 16 keV. Sensitivity, spatial resolution and uniformity of the devices have been evaluated

Download PDF Article

(a) Front and (b) back side pictures of a processed Si wafer showing the final devices

A1427 KIT Low Noise Fast Current Preamplifier & Discriminator

The CAEN A1427 is a fast and low noise current preamplifier with AC coupled input. It hosts two outputs: EOUT (unipolar) that can be integrated to calculate the energy associated to the input signal and FOUT (bipolar) that can be used to calculate the rate of the input signal, discriminating the negative pole using the A1428 discriminator that is specifically designed to fit with A1427. The discriminator thresholds are settable from -1 to -100 mV via a 10-turn rotary handle with lock.

A1427 Kit configuration is also available. It includes the A1427 and the A1428 assembled together, both  for fission chambers and for proton recoil detectors.

Features:

• Fast non-inverting preamplifier, negative output (EOUT)
• Input impedance: 50 Ω AC coupled
• Output high impedance (EOUT)
• Bipolar output high impedance (FOUT)
• Test input (TEST IN) impedance: 50 Ω, negative polarity
• FOUT/DET IN gain (FOUT negative lobe):
• FC version: 700÷2500
• PR version: 500÷1500
• FOUT/TEST IN gain: 1/100 of DET IN gain
• Output noise (peak to peak) < 40 mV
• Up to 3 kV detector bias voltage (HV IN)
• Rbias: 200 kΩ

New Portable Device for Automated Radon Detection

The device, which features a silicon sensor manufactured at IMB-CNM's Clean Room, monitors radon levels automatically and remotely. Radon gas is the largest source of natural radiation exposure in humans and causes 3-14% of lung cancer cases.

The Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), through the Institute of Microelectronics of Barcelona (IMB-CNM-CSIC), has collaborated in the design and development of a prototype for the detection of radon gas, a naturally occurring radioactive gas that can be found in the interior spaces of buildings. It consists of a small device that connects to a wireless network and automatically monitors radon levels in its environment in buildings. This detection system contains a silicon sensor manufactured in the Clean Room of the IMB-CNM-CSIC.

The prototype, still in the standardization phase, is the result of the CARE project, an initiative that has been led by the company Alibava Systems and has had the participation of two public research centers, the IMB-CNM-CSIC and the Instituto Galego de Física de Altas Enerxías (IGFAE) of the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, which has been responsible for carrying out the calibration and validation tests, both in its experimental facilities and in real environments. CARE also involves three companies, ATI Sistemas SL, Radiansa Consulting SL, Sensing & Control Systems SL.

Compact Tracking Telescope for High Energy Particles

OVERVIEW

The ALIBAVA Telescope has been successfully operated at the DESY and CERN-SPS beam lines.

The telescope consists of at least three planes (stations). The stations use ALIBAVA daughter boards to take the tracking information from two 90 degrees-turned strip sensors for XY positioning. The stations act as reference frame and allow precise track reconstruction. Each daughter connects to an ALIBAVA motherboard to process the information and they to a unique master board that synchronizes and controls the whole system. The system is triggered by two scintillators located at both ends.

Several devices can be tested simultaneously. Analysis of charge collection, cluster width, efficiency, resolution, time profile and other parameters of the devices under test with the software provided.

The telescope provides accurate particle tracking and hit point projection on device under test.

FEATURES

This product is sold under license of Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and University of Valencia (Spain)

• Sensor: Microstrip Silicon, P‐on‐N silicon.
• Sensor size: 10x10 mm2
• Thickness: 300 μm
• Read-out channels: 128
• Pitch: 80 μm
• Spatial resolution: < 10 μm
• Chip BEETLE (technology from CERN/LHC)
• Clock speed: 40 MHz
• Dynamic range: 4 MIP
• Synchronous external trigger. Trigger boards available.
• Analysis software for Windows, Linux, Mac.
• Station dimensions: 100x80 mm2
• Mother and Master board dimensions: 247x172x32 mm3
• Voltage supply: +5 V
• Mechanical structure and cooling available

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Hands-on Educational Tool for Physics

EASy is a portable, compact and complete system for microstrip sensor characterization that uses the front-end readout Beetle chip developed for CERN / LHC experiments.

EASy is a plug-and-play educational system based on the Alibava System. All components needed to start measuring are assembled and prepared, including the microstrip sensor. EASY allows for a quick and simple setup, ideal for student laboratory experiments. Furthermore, a 69-page practical exercise book for the students is included.

The system introduces high-energy physics and particle detectors to physics students with hands-on experience. It familiarizes the students with concepts such as MIP, charge deposition, full depletion and interstrip pitch among others.

Request the PDF 'White Note' on EASy

EASy can be configured to work with laser light or radioactive sources. The set-up is ideal for making basic or complex experiments with silicon microstrip detectors similar to the ones performed in the actual research field, in facilities such as the LHC at CERN, DESY, FERMILAB, Synchrotrons, etc. This easy-to-use electronic equipment establishes the basis for an affordable and complete set for student laboratory experiments.

CAEN Digitizer Whitepaper

In recent years CAEN has developed a complete family of digitizers that consists of several models differing in sampling frequency, resolution, form factor and other features. Besides the use of the digitizers as waveform recorders (oscilloscope mode), CAEN offers the possibility to upload special versions of the FPGA firmware that implement algorithms for the Digital Pulse Processing (DPP); when the digitizer runs in DPP mode, it becomes a new instrument that represents a complete digital replacement of most traditional modules such as Multi Channel Analyzers, QDCs, TDCs, Discriminators and many others.

Get up to speed by reviewing the details on this web-based whitepaper, which also highlights all available form factors (VNE / NIM / Desktop) as well as the next generation of digitizers which offer:

• More density, faster sampling rate, higher resolution for higher performances
• Increased communication readout through 1/10 Gb Ethernet, USB 3.0 (yet keeping proprietary CONET)
• Easier multi-board synchronization (clock and timing distribution)
• Increase of acquisition memory buffer size: from SSRAM to DDR4 (=> from MBs to GBs)
• Single FPGA (Xilinx Zynq US+ ) architecture => more resources for DPP algorithms and support for “Open FPGA”
• Embedded quad-core ARM (Linux) => middleware, web interface. Possibility to run user Data Processing SW

CAEN Digitizer Whitepaper - CAEN - Tools for Discovery

CAEN x1081 Programmable Logic Units

Coincidence, Trigger Logic, Counter, Pulse Generator and more

The DT1081A and N1081B are the new CAEN pocketknife tools that incorporate in a single module the most common functionalities that you need to implement the logic capabilities of your laboratory setup. Whenever you are in need to rapidly configure and perform multiple logic operations at a time, the x1081 is your supporter thanks to its flexibility.

Coincidence, scaler, timer, pulse generator, time stamper, Leading Edge Discriminator (Coming Soon) are only a small portion of the possible functions that can run on the four independent sections of the board. All this is achievable with just a few taps on the touchscreen display while a web interface is available to allow remote control via USB and Ethernet. NIM format is suitable to replace old-style crate analog electronics while the Desktop is its handy evolution to ease working at small benchtop setups.

>>> Click to start video <<<

The CAEN N1081A is a laboratory tool that incorporates in a single NIM module the most common functionalities that you need to implement the logic capabilities of your experiment.

The module is organized in four sections, with 6 inputs and 4 outputs each (selectable impedance) accepting TTL/NIM signals. Each section is configurable independently according to one of the available pre-programmed functions, like scaler, counter, time stamping, digital pulse generator, etc. The section programming can be done using the 2.8” touch screen display or via the web-interface. Each section integrates a discriminator with programmable threshold and an asynchronous Gate & Delay with 5ns resolution. This allows the user to trim at best the needed parameters and to perform accurate measurements.

Click here for more details!

Didactic Kits for University of Fribourg

At the Faculty of Science and Medicine of the University of Fribourg, they teach the next generation of scientists and doctors, with a particular focus on life sciences, biomedicine, and nanomaterials. They train them to face the future challenges of our society.

During Q1/2012 they will be receiving two new Educational Kits & Experiments for training students with state-of-the-art didactic tools from CAEN, world leader in nuclear and particle physics instrumentation.

SP5700-EasyPET in this tutorial, is a simple, user friendly and portable didactic PET system developed for high-level education, which allows exploring the physical and technological principles of the conventional human PET scanners, using the same basic detectors of state-of- the-art systems. The Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanner is the state-of-the-art medical imaging system, capable of providing detailed functional information of physiological processes inside the human body. Functional imaging has a great impact in cancer diagnostics, monitoring of therapy effects and cancer drug development. The underlying principle to PET systems is the detection of high energy radiation emitted from a chemical marker, a molecule labelled with a radioisotope, administered to a patient. The radioisotope emits positrons which, after annihilating with atomic electrons, result in the isotropic emission of two photons back to back with an energy of 511 keV. The two photons are detected by a ring of detectors, which allows a pair of them to detect two back to back photons in any direction.

Black Holes Matter

Congratulations to this trio for winning the 2020 Physics Nobel:

Roger Penrose for linking black hole formation to relativity; Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez for discovery of supermassive object.

Radiation detection for Gamma Spectroscopy and/or Neutron-Gamma Discrimination

i-Spector is an innovative product by CAEN, designed to operate as full-featured radiation detection systems for Gamma Spectroscopy and/or Neutron-Gamma Discrimination. Its profile makes this unit ideal for many portable applications where size, weight and power consumption are important constraints. Depending on the selected model, the i-Spector is suitable for a wide range of applications:

• PMT replacement in physics experiment
• Laboratory R&D on SiPM technology
• Portable Gamma-Spectroscopy Industrial process monitoring
• Environmental Monitoring
• Handheld border control against illicit traffic of radioactive material
• Neutron detection experiments
• Vehicle/personnel check-point portals

i-Spector is an all-in-one detector and electronics instrument based on a SiPM area (18×18 mm2, 24×24 mm2 or 30×30 mm2), possibly coupled to a scintillation crystal suitable for the chosen application. The i-Spector integrates in a compact tube-like mechanics the detection stage, frontend electronics, an integrated power supply for SiPM biasing and, eventually, a digital chain to process onboard the incoming data. The i-Spector can be controlled via Ethernet and/or wireless communication based on LoRa standard.

A web-based GUI allows the user to set the acquisition parameters, see results on plot and perform basic data analysis.

Multiple i-Spector tubes can be connected and controlled from a single PC. The API interface allows to control multiple devices using very simple HTTP requests and JSON vectors. A cloud-based software (Rad Cloud – FREE TRIAL) allows to build a network of i-Spector units, collecting data from the detectors and displaying them on maps or interactive tables.

i-Spector is available as OEM electronics, to encourage integration in more complex detection systems, or in ASSEMBLY version, with a suitable scintillation crystal coupled to the SiPM area. The standard assembly is available with CsI for Gamma Spectroscopy and EJ-276 for Gamma-Neutron Discrimination. Other crystals can be mounted on request. The ASSEMBLY unit is enclosed in a light-tight aluminum/plastic tube ( Ø 60 mm, h 135 mm ), with the possibility to unmount the crystal holder and easily change it.

2019 Nobel Prize in Physics

This has been an exciting week for the Swiss scientific community with the awarding of the 2019 Nobel Prize for Physics to James Peebles, Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz. Swiss physicists Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz, University of Geneva, were awarded the prize for discovering the first exoplanet orbiting a sun-like star back in 1995. Peebles baged half the prize for “theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology”.

Exoplanets, or extra solar planets, are planets beyond our solar system. This 4 minutes National Geographic video explains their discovery and significance.

In 1995, Professor Michel Mayor and his doctoral student Didier Queloz discovered 51 Pegasi B, a planet orbiting a sun-like star beyond our solar system. Their discovery created great interest in the field and research since then has led to the discovery of around 4,000 exoplanets, some of which might support life. Proxima Centauri b, the closest potentially habitable exoplanet, is 40 trillion km (4.2 light years) from earth.

A 4th physicist, John Goodenough, shared the Chemistry award with Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino for the development of lithium-ion batteries.

Build your Muons telescope!

 

New Educational Kit

 

Cosmic Hunter is a new educational tool through which CAEN expects to inspire young students and guide them towards the analysis and comprehension of cosmic rays.

 

Cosmic Hunter, Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPM) based, is composed of one detection - coincidence unit together with up to three plastic scintillating tiles.

Muons detection, flux estimation, shower detection and more are allowed thanks to a flexible system geometry.

 

Experiments:

• Cosmic muons detection
• Coincidence (single, double and triple)
• Zenit angle dependence of the muon flux
• Cosmic shower detection

Features:

• Based on SiPM detectors and plastic scintillating tiles.
• Up to 3 scintillating tiles management
• Flexible system geometry
• No need of software interface
• Embedded E-Ink Display
• SD card to download data

For more information: info@xtronix.ch
 

Experiment to Detect Dark Energy Turns Up Nothing

Imperial College London scientists tested a proposed model of the missing dark energy force in which it acts inversely from gravity — powerful in a vacuum and nearly undetectable in the presence of a lot of matter.

The accelerated expansion of the universe motivates a wide class of scalar field theories that modify general relativity (GR) on large scales. Such theories require a screening mechanism to suppress the new force in regions where the weak field limit of GR has been experimentally tested. The scientists used atom interferometry to measure the acceleration of an atom toward a macroscopic test mass inside a high vacuum chamber, where new forces can be unscreened. The measurement show no evidence of new forces, a result that places stringent bounds on chameleon and symmetron theories of modified gravity.

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Nationwide Environmental Monitoring System

Gamma Spectroscopy by CAEN SyS

The Radiation Detection Specialists  

 

XENON Dark Matter Project

Dark-matter detector observes exotic nuclear decay
CAEN and the XENON Collaboration have been pioneers in the fully Digital Data Acquisition and Pulse Processing for Dark Matter research. A longstanding, prolific collaboration that keeps on delivering important science results and is ready for future challenges.

What is XENON1T Experiment
XENON experiment is a 3500kg liquid xenon detector to search for the elusive Dark Matter – construction of the next phase, XENON1T, started in Hall B of the Gran Sasso National Laboratory in 2014. The detector contains 3.5 tons of ultra radio-pure liquid Xenon, and has a fiducial volume of about 2 tons. The detector is housed in a 10 m water tank that serves as a muon veto. The TPC is 1 m in diameter and 1 m in height. The predicted sensitivity at 50 GeV/c2 is 2.0×10−47 cm2. This is 100x lower than the current limit published for XENON100.
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DAQ by CAEN
CAEN V1724 14 bit ADCs with 100 MHz sampling frequency and 40 MHz input bandwidth were used in XENON100 and used again in XENON1T but in this later stage the system has been upgraded to handle a larger amount of data. This lead to a rather short development time since old systems and software (also for data storage and data processing) can be largely re-used.

In XENON100, CAEN increased the maximum DAQ rate by more than one order of magnitude compared to XENON10 – although the drift length was doubled and the number of channels increased by a factor 2.7 – by using an online data reduction technique developed in cooperation with CAEN. This FPGA based method is basically rejecting all baseline between peaks and reduces the amount of data to be transferred and stored dramatically. However, the algorithm is still very simple. In cooperation with CAEN, we will exploit all possibilities to reduce the data size even further.

The Argentinosaurus Collider

We know that 5% of the Universe is directly observable. The Standard Model of Particle Physics describes it precisely. But what about the remaining 95%? 

No, Argentinosaurus Collider is not CERN's official name for the Future Circular Collider, just a nickname I've given it in view of its 100 km circumference and the ancient world's biggest dinosaur, the 100-ton Argentinosaurus (or "Argentine lizard") which lived on our planet almost 100 million years ago!

The discovery of the Higgs boson at the LHC was a milestone for particle physics. In a nutshell, it completed the Standard Model of Particle Physics, which describes the matter that forms the world around us. Yet many questions about our Universe remain unanswered. Is there more matter in the Universe than what is visible? What is dark matter made of? What happened to antimatter after the Big Bang? Are there extra dimensions in the Universe and, if so, can we explore them? To get answers and find out more about our Universe, scientists have to carry out experiments in more powerful particle accelerators. The higher energy frontier will expand our horizons and may shed light to the missing pieces of the puzzle of Nature.

Visit these websites for more details: 

1. https://fcc-cdr.web.cern.ch
2. https://fcc.web.cern.ch/Pages/default.aspx 
3. http://clic-study.web.cern.ch 

Whole body counter WBC - HPGe detector based

Whole body counter developed by Baltic Scientific Instruments is intended for location and analysis of radionuclides in human body. The system is flexible to perform analysis of nearly any part of the body like joints, lungs, thyroid, etc. Having two HPGe detectors, the system provides outstanding measurement result in terms of accuracy and measurement speed. Depending of HPGe detector type (GCD or GCDX) it is possible to cover wide energy range, which means the list of radionuclides is so big that nothing will remain without attention of the specialist.

 

In some cases, longer acquisition is required, therefore, the examined person has comfortable ergonomic chair to be fixed for long measurement and still feel comfortable. Hydraulic mechanism of the chair together with adjustable positioning mechanisms of detectors allow to pick up almost any point of the body for measurement, keeping the examined person relaxed.

 

From the point of view of the specialist (operator), the software interface remains simple and intuitive allowing to control both HPGe detectors simultaneously summing the measurement result or operating each HPGe detector separately.

 

After measurement is finished, the operator will be able to see use electronic version of the report or print it out with one click. Content of the report is possible to adjust according to specific needs by editing the report template.

Features

• Quantitative and qualitative analysis using high-resolution HPGe detectors
• Adjustable to measure any part of the body
• Comfortable for the examined person
• Available with one or multiple HPGe detectors
• Option: available with scintillation detectors like NaI, LaBr, SrI, etc.
• Simple and intuitive software interface
• Automatic filling station for LN2

 Click for more details