Search results for "Instrumentation"
showing 10 items of 4914 documents
Calibration of the Lunar Orbital X-ray Fluorescence Imaging Spectrometer (LOXIA) of Chang'E-1 satellite at INAF-OAPA
2007
The Lunar Orbital X-ray Fluorescence Imaging Spectrometer (LOXIA) designed and constructed at the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to perform chemical composition analysis of the Moon surface will operate on-board the Chang'E-1 mission, the first Chinese lunar spacecraft to be launched in 2007. We report the main results of the calibration measurements that we have performed using the X-ray beamline of the XACT facility of INAFOsservatorio Astronomico di Palermo G.S. Vaiana to determine the quantum efficiency of the XRS detector in the soft X-rays as a function of photon energy and angle of incidence.
The Palermo XACT facility: a new 35 m long soft x-ray beam-line for the development and calibration of next-generation x-ray observatories
2006
The X-ray Astronomy Calibration and Testing (XACT) facility of the Instituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF) at Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo has recently undergone a major upgrade with the design and construction of a 35 meter long vacuum beam-line operating in the soft X-rays (0.1-20 keV) and the addition of new hardware to meet the requirements for testing and calibration of next generation X-ray missions. We report on the present configuration of the facility and briefly survey the range of its applications.
Confirming band assignments in $^{167}$ytterbium with gamma-gamma-electron triple-coincidence spectroscopy
2019
International audience; Multipolarity measurements are presented for transitions in the deformed odd-mass nucleus$^{167}$ Yb in support of tentative spin assignments and level interpretations based upon the cranked-Nilsson model. Internal-conversion coefficients were measured with the SAGE (Silicon And GErmanium) spectrometer confirming several E2 transition assignments. The array of high-purity germanium detectors enabled the recording of high-multiplicity events from which $\gamma\gamma\gamma$ and $\gamma\gamma e^{-}$ data sets were extracted and the technique of high-fold $\gamma$ -ray gating was demonstrated to cleanly isolate transitions of interest.
Manipulating dissipative soliton ensembles in passively mode-locked fiber lasers
2014
International audience; We review our recent experimental and theoretical results addressing the dynamics of large numbers of solitons interacting in presence of a background in passively mode-locked erbium-doped fiber lasers. We first characterize experimentally the soliton rain complex dynamics, and then we focus on ordered soliton patterns. We report that, for suitable experimental parameters, a continuous wave can impose harmonic mode locking. Two levels of modeling for a mode-locked laser subjected to the external injection of a continuous wave are developed to support the latter observation. The first one is based on a scalar master equation, while the second one takes into account th…
Trial for the long neutron counter TETRA using $^{96,97}$Rb radioactive sources
2019
International audience; The TETRA long neutron counter is operated at ALTO ISOL facility behind the PARRNe mass separator. TETRA has been proven to be a unique instrument for measurements of β-decay properties of short-lived neutron-rich nuclei having applications for the nuclear structure and/or astrophysical r-process calculations. A proper calibration of TETRA can allow validation of the experimental procedure used for determination of β-delayed one-neutron emission probabilities (P1n). It requires the use of a well-known β-neutron decaying radioactive source which can be only produced and measured on-line due to its short half-life. Thus, the present paper reports on measurements of P1n…
Phase Noise and Frequency Stability of the Red-Pitaya Internal PLL
2019
In field-programmable gate array platforms, the main clock is generally a low-cost quartz oscillator whose stability is of the order of $10^{-9}$ to $10^{-10}$ in the short term and $10^{-7}$ to $10^{-8}$ in the medium term, with the uncertainty of tens of ppm. Better stability is achieved by feeding an external reference into the internal phase-locked loop (PLL). We report the noise characterization of the internal PLL of Red-Pitaya platform, an open-source embedded system architected around the Zynq 7010 System on Chip, with analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters. Our experiments show that, providing an external 10-MHz reference, the PLL exhibits a residual frequency stability…
Cross-Spectrum PM Noise Measurement, Thermal Energy, and Metamaterial Filters.
2017
International audience; Virtually all commercial instruments for the measurement of the oscillator PM noise make use of the crossspectrum method (arXiv:1004.5539 [physics.ins-det], 2010). High sensitivity is achieved by correlation and averaging on two equal channels, which measure the same input, and reject the background of the instrument.We show that a systematic error is always present if the thermal energy of the input power splitter is not accounted for. Such error can result in noise underestimation up to a few decibels in the lowest-noise quartz oscillators, and in an invalid measurement in the case of cryogenic oscillators. As another alarming fact, the presence of metamaterial com…
Thin plastic shell x-ray optics: an update
2003
We present new results from a program to develop large area X-ray telescopes that are made from thin plastic shells. We use multi-shell cylindrical lenses in a point-to-point configuration to form full aperture images of the small focal spot in a an X-ray tube on a microchannel plate detector. The image data are analyzed to yield radial profiles and encircled energy curves. The derived parameters can be extrapolated to the case of a telescope that is a conical approximation to Wolter 1 optics. The plastic shells can be coated with suitable mono- or multilayers that allow for a wideband coverage of X-ray energies. Our current program is focused on the development of a large area, hard X-ray …
Simbol-X Mirror Module Thermal Shields: I-Design and X-Ray Transmission
2009
The Simbol‐X mission is designed to fly in formation flight configuration. As a consequence, the telescope has both ends open to space, and thermal shielding at telescope entrance and exit is required to maintain temperature uniformity throughout the mirrors. Both mesh and meshless solutions are presently under study for the shields. We discuss the design and the X‐ray transmission.
Design and implementation of electronics and data acquisition system for Ultra-Fast Flash Observatory
2013
The Ultra-Fast Flash Observatory (UFFO) Pathfinder for Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) consists of two telescopes. The UFFO Burst Alert & Trigger Telescope (UBAT) handles the detection and localization of GRBs, and the Slewing Mirror Telescope (SMT) conducts the measurement of the UV/optical afterglow. UBAT is equipped with an X-ray detector, analog and digital signal readout electronics that detects X-rays from GRBs and determines the location. SMT is equipped with a stepping motor and the associated electronics to rotate the slewing mirror targeting the GRBs identified by UBAT. First the slewing mirror points to a GRB, then SMT obtains the optical image of the GRB using the intensified CCD an…