The Borexino detector at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso

Borexino, a large volume detector for low energy neutrino spectroscopy, is currently running underground at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Italy. The main goal of the experiment is the real-time measurement of sub MeV solar neutrinos, and particularly of the mono energetic (862 keV) Be7 electron capture neutrinos, via neutrino-electron scattering in an ultra-pure liquid scintillator. This paper is mostly devoted to the description of the detector structure, the photomultipliers, the electronics, and the trigger and calibration systems. The real performance of the detector, which always meets, and sometimes exceeds, design expectations, is also shown. Some important aspects of the Borexino project, i.e. the fluid handling plants, the purification techniques and the filling procedures, are not covered in this paper and are, or will be, published elsewhere (see Introduction and Bibliography).Comment: 37 pages, 43 figures, to be submitted to NI

Optical Arbitrary Waveform Measurement (OAWM) on the Silicon Photonic Platform

We demonstrate optical arbitrary waveform measurement (OAWM) using a silicon pho-tonic spectral slicer. Exploiting maximal-ratio combining (MRC), we demonstrate the viability of the scheme by reconstructing 100-GBd 64QAM signals with high quality

Slice-Less Optical Arbitrary Waveform Measurement (OAWM) in a Bandwidth of More than 600 GHz Using Soliton Microcombs

We propose and demonstrate a novel scheme for optical arbitrary waveform measurement (OAWM) that exploits chip-scale Kerr soliton combs as highly scalable multiwavelength local oscillators (LO) for ultra-broadband full-field waveform acquisition. In contrast to earlier concepts, our approach does not require any optical slicing filters and thus lends itself to efficient implementation on state-of-the-art high-index-contrast integration platforms such as silicon photonics. The scheme allows to measure truly arbitrary waveforms with high accuracy, based on a dedicated system model which is calibrated by means of a femtosecond laser with known pulse shape. We demonstrated the viability of the approach in a proof-of-concept experiment by capturing an optical waveform that contains multiple 16 QAM and 64 QAM wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) data signals with symbol rates of up to 80 GBd, reaching overall line rates of up to 1.92 Tbit/s within an optical acquisition bandwidth of 610 GHz. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest bandwidth that has so far been demonstrated in an OAWM experiment

Mechanical-sensorless induction motor drive based only on DC-Link measurements

Sensor count reduction for high-performance induction motor (IM) drives is considered. A novel strategy to compute the three phase currents, based on a single current sensor and an adaptive observer, is proposed. The observer estimates the motor state variables, allowing then implementing an IM field-oriented controlled (FOC) drive with closed speed loop based only on DC-link measurements. To demonstrate the practical feasibility of this proposal, representative experimental results, obtained with a FOC experimental prototype, are presented. The FOC prototype showed results similar to those from a conventional FOC drive with individual phase current sensors. The sensor count reduction achieved represents a significant cost diminution in the implementation of low-power high-performance drives.Fil: Sonnaillon, Maximiliano Osvaldo. Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica. Gerencia D/area Invest y Aplicaciones No Nucleares. Gerencia de Física (cab). Div.física Teórica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Bisheimer, Guillermo. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ingeniería. Departamento de Electricidad y Electrónica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: de Angelo, Cristian Hernan. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnologías Energéticas y Materiales Avanzados. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnologías Energéticas y Materiales Avanzados; ArgentinaFil: Solsona, Jorge Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Eléctrica "Alfredo Desages". Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Ingeniería Eléctrica y de Computadoras. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Eléctrica "Alfredo Desages"; ArgentinaFil: García, G. O.. No especifíca

Doctor of Philosophy in Physics

dissertationThe Telescope Array (TA) experiment is the largest Ultra High Energy cosmic ray observatory in the northern hemisphere and is designed to be sensitive to cosmic ray air showers above 1018eV. Despite the substantial measurements made by TA and AUGER (the largest cosmic ray observatory in the southern hemisphere), there remains uncertainty about whether the highest energy cosmic rays are galactic or extragalactic in origin. Locating features in the cosmic ray energy spectrum below 1018eV that indicate a transi- tion from galactic to extragalactic sources would clarify the interpretation of measurements made at the highest energies. The Telescope Array Low Energy Extension (TALE) is designed to extend the energy threshold of the TA observatory down to 1016.5eV in order to make such measurements. This dissertation details the construction, calibration, and operation of the TALE flu- orescence detector. A measurement of the flux of cosmic rays in the energy range of 1016.5 1018.5eV is made using the monocular data set taken between September 2013 and January 2014. The TALE fluorescence detector observes evidence for a softening of the cosmic spectrum at 1017.25±0.5eV. The evidence of a change in the spectrum motivates continued study of 1016.5 1018.5eV cosmic rays