[en] A large strip detector for position and energy measurement of heavy ions in a 100-MeV range has been realized. An improved version with an epitaxial thick layer for ΔE measurement is foreseen. This paper describes a charge preamplifier-shaper dedicated to an optimal use of the mentioned detector whose charge extracted will be positive. The dynamic range of 12 and 8 bit are expected for E and ΔE measurements, respectively

[en] The authors present a low-power CMOS charge preamplifier, suitable for use with silicon detectors having a medium value of capacitance. Noise considerations and a long decay time of the output signal command the use of unusually large devices such as an input transistor having W = 10,000 microm and a 7-MΩ feedback resistor. Both of these devices were integrated inside the chip. They present and compare theoretical predictions together with the results of post-layout simulation and the measurements obtained

[en] We present the design and the test performed on ADeLinel, a Full-Custom Analog Memory for sparse data sampling. It has been designed as an array of switched capacitors. It is only one channel of 8 cells. The control part of the ADeLine chip is custom designed for the size reduction, high speed performance and low power dissipation. The memory has been integrated in double poly, double metal AMS 0.8 μm CMOS. It has 3.5 V input and output swings, a linearity within ± 6 mV in a 2 V range and 11 bits of resolution. (author)

[en] A Silicon Drift Detector Front-End and a Smart Readout is proposed for ALICE's ITS readout. It is based on a dedicated Fuzzy Processor. Four main aims can be achieved: a significant reduction of data volume toward mass storage; less matter across the particle trajectories; ON-LINE personalised calibration of the detector against temperature effects; more insensitivity to noise effect compared with traditional systems for both position and charge measurement. The system fulfils the requirement for ALICE Inner Tracker System Silicon Drift Detectors. This paper aims at illustrating to the Physics community the work presently done that has engaged many people for a long time

[en] The KM3NeT research infrastructure is under construction in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of two water Cherenkov neutrino detectors, ARCA and ORCA, aimed at neutrino astrophysics and oscillation research, respectively. Instrumenting a large volume of sea water with ∼ 6200 optical modules comprising a total of ∼ 200,000 photomultiplier tubes, KM3NeT will achieve sensitivity to ∼ 10 MeV neutrinos from Galactic and near-Galactic core-collapse supernovae through the observation of coincident hits in photomultipliers above the background. In this paper, the sensitivity of KM3NeT to a supernova explosion is estimated from detailed analyses of background data from the first KM3NeT detection units and simulations of the neutrino signal. The KM3NeT observational horizon (for a 5 σ discovery) covers essentially the Milky-Way and for the most optimistic model, extends to the Small Magellanic Cloud (∼ 60 kpc). Detailed studies of the time profile of the neutrino signal allow assessment of the KM3NeT capability to determine the arrival time of the neutrino burst with a few milliseconds precision for sources up to 5-8 kpc away, and detecting the peculiar signature of the standing accretion shock instability if the core-collapse supernova explosion happens closer than 3-5 kpc, depending on the progenitor mass. KM3NeT's capability to measure the neutrino flux spectral parameters is also presented.

[en] A proposal for a new front-end architecture intended to capture signals in the optical module of an underwater neutrino telescope is described. It concentrates on the problem of power consumption, signal reconstruction, charge and time precision.

[en] A very large-area (6.75x8 cm²) silicon drift detector with integrated high-voltage divider has been designed, produced and fully characterised in the laboratory by means of ad hoc designed MOS injection electrodes. The detector is of the 'butterfly' type, the sensitive area being subdivided into two regions with a maximum drift length of 3.3 cm. The device was also tested in a pion beam (at the CERN PS) tagged by means of a microstrip detector telescope. Bipolar VLSI front-end cells featuring a noise of 250 e^- rms at 0 pF with a slope of 40 e^-/pF have been used to read out the signals. The detector showed an excellent stability and featured the expected characteristics. Some preliminary results will be presented.

[en] The NEMO Collaboration aims to construct an underwater Cherenkov detector in the Mediterranean Sea, able to act as a neutrino telescope. One of the main tasks of this project, which implies difficult technological challenges, is the selection of an adequate marine site. In this framework the knowledge of light transmission properties in deep seawater is extremely important. The collaboration has measured optical properties in several marine sites near the Italian coasts, at depths >3000 m, using a setup based on a AC9, a commercial trasmissometer, manufactured by WETLabs. The results obtained for the two sites reported in this paper (Alicudi and Ustica), show that deep seawater optical properties are comparable to those of the clearest waters

[en] We report preliminary beam test results of linear Silicon Drift Detector prototypes for the ALICE experiment. Linearity, resolution, charge transport and collection, and efficiency have been studied using a minimum ionizing particle beam for a very large area detector prototype read out with the OLA preamplifier/shaper and for another detector read out using a new transimpedance amplifier with a non linear response

[en] Many of the existing neutrino telescopes use large area photomultipliers integrated into transparent glass vessels to make the detection element called ''optical module''. The characteristics of the photomultipliers have a severe impact on the performance of the whole detectors. This paper describes a large work of characterization of large area photomultipliers performed in the frame of R and D activities of large volume underwater neutrino detectors. Dedicated studies are also reported about noise pulses, super bialkali photocathode photomultipliers, ageing effects, influences of the Earth's magnetic field and on the effects of the external glass vessels on the optical module's noise pulses