701 research outputs found
Development of microwave superconducting microresonators for neutrino mass measurement in the HOLMES framework
The European Research Council has recently funded HOLMES, a project with the
aim of performing a calorimetric measurement of the electron neutrino mass
measuring the energy released in the electron capture decay of 163Ho. The
baseline for HOLMES are microcalorimeters coupled to Transition Edge Sensors
(TESs) read out with rf-SQUIDs, for microwave multiplexing purposes. A
promising alternative solution is based on superconducting microwave
resonators, that have undergone rapid development in the last decade. These
detectors, called Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors (MKIDs), are
inherently multiplexed in the frequency domain and suitable for even
larger-scale pixel arrays, with theoretical high energy resolution and fast
response. The aim of our activity is to develop arrays of microresonator
detectors for X-ray spectroscopy and suitable for the calorimetric measurement
of the energy spectra of 163Ho. Superconductive multilayer films composed by a
sequence of pure Titanium and stoichiometric TiN layers show many ideal
properties for MKIDs, such as low loss, large sheet resistance, large kinetic
inductance, and tunable critical temperature . We developed Ti/TiN
multilayer microresonators with within the range from 70 mK to 4.5 K and
with good uniformity. In this contribution we present the design solutions
adopted, the fabrication processes and the characterization results
A Reconfigurable Impedance Matching Network Employing RF-MEMS Switches
We propose the design of a reconfigurable impedance matching network for the
lower RF frequency band, based on a developed RF-MEMS technology. The circuit
is composed of RF-MEMS ohmic relays, metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors and
suspended spiral inductors, all integrated on a high resistivity Silicon
substrate. The presented circuit is well-suited for all applications requiring
adaptive impedance matching between two in principle unknown cascaded
RF-circuits. The fabrication and testing of a monolithic integrated prototype
in RF-MEMS technology from ITC-irst is currently underway.Comment: Submitted on behalf of EDA Publishing Association
(http://irevues.inist.fr/EDA-Publishing
A bolometric measurement of the antineutrino mass
High statistics calorimetric measurements of the beta spectrum of 187Re are
being performed with arrays of silver perrhenate crystals operated at low
temperature. After a modification of the experimental set-up, which allowed to
substantially reduce the background of spurious counts and therefore to
increase the sensitivity on the electron antineutrino mass, a new measurement
with 10 silver perrhenate microbolometers is running since July 2002. The
crystals have masses between 250 and 350 micrograms and their average FWHM
energy resolution, constantly monitored by means of fluorescence X-rays, is of
28.3 eV at the beta end-point. The Kurie plot collected during 4485 hours x mg
effective running time has an end-point energy of 2466.1 +/- 0.8{stat} +/- 1.5
{syst} eV, while the half lifetime of the decay is found to be 43.2 +/-
0.2{stat} +/- 0.1{syst} Gy. These values are the most precise obtained so far
for 187Re. From the fit of the Kurie plot we can deduce a value for the squared
electron antineutrino mass m(nu)^2 of 147 +/- 237{stat} +/- 90{syst} eV^2. The
corresponding 90% C.L. upper limit for m(nu) is 21.7 eV.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Reliability of RF MEMS capacitive and ohmic switches for space redundancy configurations
In this paper RF MEMS switches in coplanar waveguide (CPW) configuration designed for redundancy space applications have been analyzed, to demonstrate their reliability in terms of microwave performances when subjected to DC actuations up to one million cycles. As a result, both the investigated structures fulfill the current electrical requirements expected for redundancy logic purposes
Investigation of charges-driven interactions between graphene and different SiO2 surfaces
As being only one atom thick, most of the device applications require graphene to be partially or fully supported by a substrate, which is typically silicon dioxide (SiO2). According to a common understanding, graphene interacts with SiO2 through weak, long-range van der Waals forces, emerging between
instantaneous/induced dipoles, in contrast to the experimental evidence that reveals a surprisingly high interaction between graphene and SiO2. In order to get further insight into this phenomenon, we carried out diverse physical measurements on SiO2 substrates, prepared via different fabrication protocols, with
and without graphene on top. As a result, the role of the oxide surface charges is recognized for the first time as a main factor causing graphene to strongly interact with SiO2. Our findings provide guidelines for designing 2D materials interaction with a substrate through modulation of surface charges. This, in turn,
can facilitate the development of new graphene based microelectronic devices
Large area Si low-temperature light detectors with Neganov-Luke effect
Next generation calorimetric experiments for the search of rare events rely
on the detection of tiny amounts of light (of the order of 20 optical photons)
to discriminate and reduce background sources and improve sensitivity.
Calorimetric detectors are the simplest solution for photon detection at
cryogenic (mK) temperatures. The development of silicon based light detectors
with enhanced performance thanks to the use of the Neganov-Luke effect is
described. The aim of this research line is the production of high performance
detectors with industrial-grade reproducibility and reliability.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
The Microcalorimeter Arrays for a Rhenium Experiment (MARE): a next-generation calorimetric neutrino mass experiment
Neutrino oscillation experiments have proved that neutrinos are massive
particles, but can't determine their absolute mass scale. Therefore the
neutrino mass is still an open question in elementary particle physics. An
international collaboration is growing around the project of Microcalorimeter
Arrays for a Rhenium Experiment (MARE) for directly measuring the neutrino mass
with a sensitivity of about 0.2eV/c2. Many groups are joining their experiences
and technical expertise in a common effort towards this challenging experiment.
We discuss the different scenarios and the impact of MARE as a complement of
KATRIN.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure Nucl. Instr. Meth. A, proceedings of LTD11
workshop, Tokyo 200
Microsystem Technology for Ambient Assisted Living (AAL)
AbstractAAL is certainly an application area with sensor as well as actuator needs. Some of the requirements can be fulfilled by state of the art technology; some areas however still need a lot of R&D efforts for potential applications in homes. The contribution describes two areas of interest and actual development: One is the topic of robust fire detection; the other domain is fall detection. For both application areas one has to understand both the state of the art and the drawbacks of the current solutions. One can state clearly that there is a huge potential for the development of new microsystems. Still one has to keep in mind that usage in elderly homes also requires consent and cooperation of the users which is the focus of the user centered design principle
RF MEMS ohmic switches for matrix configurations
Two different topologies of radio frequency micro-electro-mechanical system (RF MEMS) series ohmic switches (cantilever and clampedâclamped beams) in coplanar waveguide (CPW) configuration have been characterized by means of DC, environmental, and RF measurements. In particular, on-wafer checks have been followed by RF test after vibration, thermal shocks, and temperature cycles. The devices have been manufactured on high resistivity silicon substrates, as building blocks to be implemented in different single-pole 4-throw (SP4 T), double-pole double-throw (DPDT) configurations, and then integrated in Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramics (LTCC) technology for the realization of large-order Clos 3D networks
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