RADIATION AND DETECTORS

Degree course: 
Corso di Second cycle degree in PHYSICS
Academic year when starting the degree: 
2019/2020
Year: 
1
Academic year in which the course will be held: 
2019/2020
Course type: 
Compulsory subjects, characteristic of the class
Credits: 
6
Period: 
First Semester
Standard lectures hours: 
48
Detail of lecture’s hours: 
Lesson (48 hours)
Requirements: 

Knowledge of the English language
Knowledge of the bases of nuclear and subnuclear physics

Final Examination: 
Orale

The final exam is an oral one with a starting topic chosen by the student who gives a lesson of around 20 minutes on the topic itself. The student is then tested on the other topics of the course with questions that have not necessarily been met during the course in order to verify the level the student has reached. During the exam, the student is always asked to design a detector setup for a particular physics measurement.

Assessment: 
Voto Finale

The course foresees the following results:
- deep knowledge of the radiation-matter interaction
- knowledge of the different radiation sources, including decay chains
- deep knowledge of the detectors features with their pros and cons
- development of the capability of choosing the ideal detector, once being given the measurement constraints and goals
- capability of designing an experimental setup for a given measurement
- capability of understanding the problems related to an experimental setup and of proposing possible solutions
- development of the capability to grasp from a course with a huge amount of info what is fundamental to design a detector system

The course phases are the following:
- Introduction to detector physics:
* radiation-matter interaction for charged particles, X-rays, gamma-rays and neutrons
* nuclear physics measurements: momentum, energy, particle identification

- The radiation sources:
* radioactive decay
* natural chains
* cosmic radiation
* particle accelerators and nuclear reactors

- The detectors for nuclear and subnuclear physics:
* ionizing detectors
* scintillating detectors and photon detectors
* semiconductor detectors

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The following bibliography is used:
- W.R.Leo, ISBN 0-387-57280-5
- G.F.Knoll, ISBN 0-471-07338-5
- K. Kleinknecht, Detectors for particle radiation, 2nd ed, Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1998 (ISBN 0521648548)
- slides for the lessons and seminars/articles on the different types of detectors

The course is based on:
- lessons
- discussions of a topic that has been assigned to the class (for instance, X-ray detectors for medical or cultural heritage applications, detectors for experiments in extreme conditions): every student has to find the bibliograpy on that topic for a general discussion in the class itself during one of the lessons, concentrating on the detector features and how they can be implemented

For a meeting, send an email to the teacher, michela.prest@uninsubria.it

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