γ -spectroscopy group

Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro

The Gamma Spectroscopy group performs nuclear structure studies using stable beams provided by the PIAVE-ALPI-TANDEM accelerators of Legnaro National Laboratory, and high-resolution Ge arrays coupled to different ancillary detectors. The group works in close collaboration with the "Galileo Galilei" physics department of the University of Padova and INFN-Padova. Furthermore, the group belongs to the GAMMA collaboration for nuclear physics. This collaboration is part of the INFN - National Scientific Committee 3 (CSN3) initiative, which involves 5 INFN divisions: INFN - Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro (LNL), INFN - Sezione di Firenze (FI), INFN - Sezione di Milano (MI), INFN - Sezione di Padova (PD), and the University of Camerino .

The group is also involved with SPES , which is a next generation ISOL-type accelerator that together with the operation of existing machines, is the future of LNL. SPES will provide Radioactive Ion Beam for nuclear physics and astrophysics research, as well as for interdisciplinary applications.

Currently, the GALILEO array is being employed to detect γ radiation emitted after reactions such as fusion-evaporation, and low-energy Coulomb excitation. At the moment, preparations are being made to host the AGATA array in 2022. You can find more information on the installation of AGATA@LNL below

The physics program of the group includes the following topics:

Shell structure in n-rich nuclei
Isospin symmetries and n-p pairing
Pigmy resonance of interest in astrophysics
Structure of nuclei at the proton-drip line
Critical points and phase transitions between different nuclear shapes

In addition to the local activities, the group also performs research in collaboration with different laboratories such as GANIL , ISOLDE, JYU, the RIKEN Nishina Center , and GSI which is at the moment evolving into FAIR .

AGATA@LNL

AGATA, for advanced gamma tracking array, is a highly segmented High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detector array. It is a European collaboration project funded by twelve countries in Europe. The project was proposed in 2001 and in 2002 it was signed by the participant countries. AGATA is capable of high counting event rates and can be coupled with ancillary detectors, such as magnetic spectrometers, fast-timing detectors charged particles or neutron detectors. The AGATA detectors are Ge-detectors that are 36-fold segment with six-fold azimuthal and six-fold longitudinal segmentation.

The installation of the AGATA array at the Legnaro Laboratories is ongoing and the commissioning experiment will take place at the end of April!

The honeycomb in more populated, update of 17/10/2022

Agata with LaBr3 for the second part of the 2022 experimental campaign

Three triple clusters have been mounted and aligned to the structure

Three triple clusters have been mounted and aligned to the structure

The honeycomb structure has been coupled to PRISMA

The honeycomb structure installed coupled to the PRISMA structure

GALILEO

GALILEO (Gamma Array of Legnaro INFN Laboratories for nuclEar spectrOscopy) is the current high-resolution Ge array for advanced in-beam γ-ray spectroscopy studies constructed and installed at LNL.

The first phase of GALILEO was operational between 2015 and 2019 and consisted of 25 GASP tapered detectors coupled to Neutron Wall as shown in the picure. In a second stage of this phase, 10 GASP detectors were moved to the forward angles (replacing Neutron Wall) and LaBr₃ detectors were mounted at 90° to optimize the setup for measurements using the Plunger.

In its second phase, GALILEO will consist of 25 GASP tapered detectors at 90° and forward angles, and 10 triple clusters built using capsules of EUROBALL, mounted at backward angles. At the moment 20 GASP detectors and one triple cluster are mounted in the structure. Keep updated on the progress of the array following the latest news.

The HPGe detectors are surrounded by anti-Compton shields in order to reach, for the whole array, a peak-to-total ratio of about 55%. A 5 cm thick heavy-metal shield improves Compton rejection, avoiding direct γ-ray interactions in the BGO shields. The geometry of the array is designed to maximize the photo-peak efficiency under typical in-beam medium-high γ-ray multiplicity conditions, achieving a value of 6.4%. GALILEO can be coupled to different ancillary devices.

Check out the list of GALILEO physics publications , or take a look at some of the technical publications . You can also see previous thesis regarding GALILEO or its ancillary devices.

A full list of the experiments approved and performed with GALILEO can be found here

The GALILEO array coupled to NeutronWall

Ancillary devices.

Some of the ancillary devices which can be coupled to GALILEO (and AGATA) are:

A dedicated Plunger device for lifetime measurements with GALILEO.
EUCLIDES: A highly-efficient light-charged-particle detector
SPIDER: A Silicon PIe DEtectoR for low-energy Coulomb-excitation measurements
TRACE: A pixel-type Si TRacking Array for light Charged particle Ejectiles
LaBr₃ detectors
NEDA: A NEutron Detector Array
Neutron Wall: The EUROBALL neutron wall
The Recoil Filter Detector (RFD)

Events.

19-21 April 2023:	pre-PAC workshop of AGATA@LNL
	Webpage

11-12 April 2022:	Nuclear Physics Mid Term Plan in Italy: Session LNL
	Webpage

21-24 March 2022:	PAC@LNL
	Webpage

10-12 November 2021:	AGATA collaboration meeting 2021
	Webpage

8-10 November 2021:	pre-PAC workshop of AGATA@LNL
	Webpage

News.

31 March 2022:	C. Delafosse, A. Goasduff, A. Kankainen et al.
	First trap-assisted decay spectroscopy of the ⁸¹Ge ground state
	European Physics Journal (2022)

8 March 2022:	A. Badalà, M. La Cognata, R. Nania et al.
	Trends in particle and nuclei identification techniques in nuclear physics experiments
	Riv. Nuovo Cim. (2022)

16 October 2020:	S. Guo, C. M. Petrache, D. Mengoni, et al.
	Pseudospin partner bands in ¹³⁰Ba
	Phys. Rev. C 102, 044320 (2020)

21 September 2020:	S. M. Lenzi, A. Poves, and A. O. Macchiavelli
	Isospin symmetry breaking in the mirror pair ⁷³Sr - ⁷³Br
	Phys. Rev. C 102, 031302 (2020)

7 August 2020:	J. Bradbury, D. Testov, S. Bakes, et al.
	Lifetime measurements using a plunger device and the EUCLIDES Si array atthe GALILEO γ-ray spectrometer
	Nucl. Instrum. Methods. Phys. Res. A 979, 164345 (2020)

30 July 2020:	Installation of the first new triple cluster detector from GALILEO
	The first new triple detector from GALILEO was mounted with its anti-Compton shield. The detector is composed of three hyper-pure Germanium crystals installed inside a single cryostat specially developed for GALILEO. The installation of other detectors is scheduled for autumn 2020 and will allow to increase the detection efficiency of the array.

28 July 2020:	A. Gottardo, G. de Angelis, P. Doornenbal, et al.
	Transition strengths in the neutron-rich ^73,74,75Ni isotopes
	Phys. Rev. C 102, 014323 (2020)

22 July 2020:	M. Siciliano, I. Zanon, A. Goasduff, et al.
	Shape coexistence in neutron-deficient ¹⁸⁸Hg investigated via lifetime measurements
	Phys. Rev. C 102, 014318 (2020)

pd.infn.it

Researcher

Postdoc

INFN-LNL

PhD students:

Former members:

Guangxin Zhang
Postdoc
University of Padova

Zhen Huang
PhD student
University of Padova

Jeongsu Ha
Postdoc
University of Padova

Martha Liliana Cortes
Postdoc
INFN-LNL

Giorgia Pasqualato
PhD student
University of Padova

Eleonora Gregor
Postdoc
INFN-LNL

Thesis projects

The group offers different thesis projects for bachelor, master and PhD thesis.
Below you can find some of the possible topics for your thesis. Contact the corresponding supervisor if you are interested!

Bachelor thesis
Lifetime measurements with plunger. Supervisor: Alain Goasduff

Master thesis
Test of Silicon detectors. Supervisor: Daniele Mengoni

Publications

Here you can find a list of:

the GALILEO physics publications
the GALILEO and ancillaries technical publications
past thesis using GALILEO
and other thesis supervised by the group

GALILEO physics publications
High-spin intruder states in the mirror nuclei ³¹S and ³¹P.
D. Testov, A. Boso, S.M. Lenzi et al.
Phys. Rev. C 104, 024309 (2021)
Pseudospin partner bands in ¹³⁰Ba.
S. Guo, C. M. Petrache, D. Mengoni, et al.
Phys. Rev. C 102, 044320 (2020)
Shape coexistence in neutron-deficient ¹⁸⁸Hg investigated via lifetime measurements.
M. Siciliano, I. Zanon, A. Goasduff, et al.
Phys. Rev. C 102, 014318 (2020)
Evidence for pseudospin-chiral quartet bands in the presence of octupole correlations.
S.Guo, C.M.Petrache, D.Mengoni, et al.
Phys. Lett. B 807, 135572 (2020)
New level scheme and shell model description of ²¹²Rn.
C. B. Li, G. L. Zhang, C. X. Yuan, et al.
Phys. Rev. C 101, 044313(2020)
Identification of high-K rotation in ¹³⁰Ba: Testing the consistency of electromagnetic observables.
Y. H. Qiang, C. M. Petrache, S. Guo, et al.
Phys. Rev. C 99, 014307 (2019)
Diversity of shapes and rotations in the γ-soft ¹³⁰Ba nucleus: First observation of a t-band in the A= 130 mass region.
C. M. Petrache, P. M. Walker, S.Guo, et al.
Phys. Lett. B 795, 241 (2019)
One-neutron stripping processes to excited states of ⁹⁰Y^* in the ⁸⁹Y(⁶Li,⁵Li)⁹⁰Y^*reaction.
G. L. Zhang, G. X. Zhang, S. P. Hu, et al.
Phys. Rev. C 97, 014611 (2018)

GALILEO and ancillaries technical publications
The GALILEO γ-ray array at Legnaro National Laboratories.
A. Goasduff, D. Mengoni, F. Recchia, J.J. Valiente-Dobon, et al.
Nucl. Instrum. Methods. Phys. Res. A 1015, 165753 (2021)
#galileo
Lifetime measurements using a plunger device and the EUCLIDES Si array at the GALILEO γ-ray spectrometer.
J. Bradbury, D. Testov, S. Bakes, et al.
Nucl. Instrum. Methods. Phys. Res. A 979, 164345 (2020)
#plunger #euclides
SPIDER: A Silicon PIe DEtectoR for low-energy Coulomb-excitation measurements.
M. Rocchini, K. Hadynska-Klek, A. Nannini, et al.
Nucl. Instrum. Methods. Phys. Res. A 971, 164030 (2020)
#spider
The 4π highly-efficient light-charged-particle detector EUCLIDES, installed at the GALILEO array for in-beam γ-ray spectroscopy.
D. Testov, D. Mengoni, A. Goasduff, et al.
Eur. Phys. J. A 55, 47 (2019)
#euclides
NEDA ‐ NEutron Detector Array.
J. J. Valiente-Dobón, G. Jaworski, A. Goasduff, et al.
Nucl. Instrum. Methods. Phys. Res. A 927, 81 (2019)
#neda
A new dedicated plunger device for the GALILEO γ-ray detector array.
C. Müller-Gatermann, F. von Spee, A. Goasduff, et al.
Nucl. Instrum. Methods. Phys. Res. A 920, 95 (2019)
#plunger
Neutron detection and γ-ray suppression using artificial neural networks with the liquid scintillators BC-501A and BC-537.
P. -A. Söderström, G. Jaworski, J. J. Valiente Dobón, et al.
Nucl. Instrum. Methods. Phys. Res. A 916, 238 (2019)
#neda
A powerful combination measurement for exploring the fusion reaction mechanisms induced by weakly bound nuclei.
S. P. Hu, G. L. Zhang, G. X. Zhang, et al.
Nucl. Instrum. Methods. Phys. Res. A 914, 64 (2019)
#plunger #euclides
Towards the lowest-energy limit for light ions identification with silicon pixel-type detectors.
N. Cieplicka-Oryńczak, D. Mengoni, M. Ciemala, et al.
Eur. Phys. J. A 54, 29 (2018)
#trace
Pulse pile-up identification and reconstruction for liquid scintillator based neutron detectors.
X. L. Luo, V. Modamio, J. Nybergb, et al.
Nucl. Instrum. Methods. Phys. Res. A 897, 59 (2018)
#neda
Digital pulse-timing technique for the neutron detector array NEDA.
V. Modamio, J. J. Valiente-Dobón, G. Jaworski, et al.
Nucl. Instrum. Methods. Phys. Res. A 775, 71 (2015)
#neda
Test of digital neutron ‐ gamma discrimination with four different photomultiplier tubes for the NEutron Detector Array (NEDA).
X. L. Luo, V. Modamio, J. Nyberg, et al.
Nucl. Instrum. Methods. Phys. Res. A 767, 83 (2014)
#neda
Digital pulse-shape analysis with a TRACE early silicon prototype.
D. Mengoni, J. A. Dueñas, M. Assié, et al.
Nucl. Instrum. Methods. Phys. Res. A 764, 241 (2014)
#trace
Characterization of large volume 3.5"x8" LaBr₃:Ce detectors.
A. Giaz, L. Pellegri, S. Riboldia, et al.
Nucl. Instrum. Methods. Phys. Res. A 729, 910 (2013)
#labr
Monte Carlo simulation of a single detector unit for the neutron detector array NEDA.
G. Jaworski, M. Palacz, J. Nyberg, et al.
Nucl. Instrum. Methods. Phys. Res. A 673, 64 (2012)
#neda
Monte Carlo simulations of the Neutron Wall detector system.
J. Ljungvall, M. Palacz, and J. Nyberg
Nucl. Instrum. Methods. Phys. Res. A 528, 741 (2004)
#neutronwall
The EUROBALL neutron wall ‐ design and performance tests of neutron detectors.
Ö. Skeppstedt, H. A. Roth, L. Lindström, et al.
Nucl. Instrum. Methods. Phys. Res. A 421, 531 (1999)
#neutronwall

GALILEO and ancillaries thesis

Master thesis:

Study of Shape Coexistence in the ¹⁸⁸Hg nucleus via lifetime measurements.
Irene Zanon
Universita degli studi di Padova, 2017/2018
Relatore: Dr. Alain Goasduff
Correlatore: Dr. Marco Siciliano
Test of a ³He target to be used for transfer reactions in inverse kinematics and study of the nuclear structure of ⁷⁴Se.
Gabriele Carozzi
Universita degli studi di Padova, 2017/2018
Relatori: Dr. Daniele Mengoni, Dr. Jose Javier Valiente Dobon, Dr. Marco Siciliano
Investigation of shape coexistence in ⁶⁰Zn by using the γ-ray spectrometer GALILEO at the LNL.
Giorgia Pasqualato
Universita degli studi di Padova, 2016/2017
Relatore: Dr. Daniele Mengoni

Bachelor thesis:

Characterization of highly-segmented silicon detectors for direct reactions with radioactive beams.
Riccardo Lombardi
Universita degli studi di Padova, 2019/2020
Relatore: Prof. Daniele Mengoni
Corelatore: Dr. Alain Goasduff
Studi di struttura nucleare con lo spettrometro GALILEO.
Matilde Avesani
Universita degli studi di Padova, 2019/2020
Relatore: Prof. Silvia Lenzi
Corelatore: Dr. Dmitry Testov
Nuclear Structure of ³³S using the GALILEO γ-ray spectrometer.
Anita Candiello.
Universita degli studi di Padova, 2018/2019
Relatore: Prof. Silvia Lenzi.
Corelatore: Dr. Dmitry Testov.
Lifetime measurements with fast-timing scintillators.
Marta Magalini
Universita degli studi di Padova, 2018/2019
Relatore: Prof. Daniele Mengoni
Correlatore: Dr. Andres Illana Sison, Dr. Alain Goasduff
Ottimizzazione di TRACE, un array di rivelatori segmentati di silicio, per lo studio di reazioni di trasferimento a LNL.
Anna Braghetto
Universita degli studi di Padova, 2017/2018
Relatore: Dr. Alain Goasduff
Correlatore: Dr. Marco Siciliano
Exploring the Pulse Shape Discrimination capabilities of the ΔE silicon detectors of the EUCLIDES array.
Giovanni Sighinolfi
Universita degli studi di Padova, 2017/2018
Relatore: Dr. Alain Goasduff
Correlatore: Dr. Marco Siciliano, Dr. Daniele Mengoni
Characterization with digital electronics of a neutron detector for fast neutrons.
Andrea Raggio
Universita degli studi di Padova, 2016/2017
Relatori: : Dr. G. Jaworski, Dr. V. Modamio, Dr. J.J. Valiente-Dobón, Prof. D. Mengoni

Other completed thesis

PhD thesis:

Nuclear structure of the semi-magic tin isotopes close to ¹⁰⁰Sn:lifetime measurements of low-lying states in ¹⁰⁶Sn and ¹⁰⁸Sn
Marco Siciliano
Universita degli studi di Padova, 2017
Supervisori: Dr. Jose Javier Valiente Dobon, Dr. Alain Goasduff
Study of shape evolution in the neutron-rich osmium isotopes with the advanced gamma-tracking array AGATA
Philipp Rudolf John
Universita degli studi di Padova, 2015
Supervisori: Dr. Daniele Mengoni, Prof. Santo Lunardi, Dr. Jose Javier Valiente Dobon

Master thesis:

Isomer decay spectroscopy of neutron-rich nuclei around A ∼ 210
Luca Zago
Universita degli studi di Padova, 2019/2020
Relatori: Dr. Jose Javier Valiente Dobon, Dr. Andrea Gottardo
Isospin symmetry in the fp-shell mirror nuclei.
Sara Pigliapoco
Universita degli studi di Padova, 2019/2020
Relatore: Dr. Francesco Recchia
Correlatore: Dr. Martha Liliana Cortés
Commissioning Experiment of the AGATA+MUGAST+VAMOS Setup for Direct Reaction Studies.
Andrea Raggio
Universita degli studi di Padova, 2019/2020
Relatore: Prof. Daniele Mengoni
Correlatore: Marlene Assie
Perspectives on the measurement of competitive double gamma decay with the AGATA tracking arrays.
Daniele Brugnara
Universita degli studi di Padova, 2017/2018
Relatore: Dr. Jose Javier Valiente Dobon
Correlatore: Dr. Alain Goasduff

Bachelor thesis:

Studio della struttura nucleare dello ⁶²Zn con tecniche di spettroscopia gamma
Edoardo Fiesoli
Universita degli studi di Padova, 2020/2021
Relatore: Prof. Silvia Lenzi
Spettroscopia gamma di nuclei ricchi di protoni con lo spettormetro gamma AGATA
Emma Raniero
Universita degli studi di Padova, 2020/2021
Relatore: Prof. Silvia Lenzi
Spettroscopia gamma di nuclei ricchi di protoni con lo spettormetro gamma AGATA
Gianmarco Esposto
Universita degli studi di Padova, 2020/2021
Relatore: Prof. Silvia Lenzi
Studio della struttura di nuclei rotazionali della shell f7/2 con il modello a shell interattivo
Alberto Cattelan
Universita degli studi di Padova, 2020/2021
Relatore: Prof. Silvia Lenzi
Study of discrete symmetry in ²¹Ne.
Edoardo Buonocore
Universita degli studi di Padova, 2019/2020
Relatore: Dr. Daniele Mengoni
Correlatore: Prof. Lorenzo Fortunato
Metodi radioattivi per los tudio della struttura nucleare in nuclei pesanti
Matteo Gambrioli
Universita degli studi di Padova, 2019/2020
Relatore: Prof. Silvia Lenzi
Probabilita di transizione nei nuclei speculari ⁴⁹Mn e ⁴⁹Cr
Mirko Menni
Universita degli studi di Padova, 2019/2020
Relatore: Prof. Silvia Lenzi
Metodo sperimentale per studiare nuclei con alone
Silvia Ziviani
Universita degli studi di Padova, 2019/2020
Relatore: Prof. Silvia Lenzi
Struttura a cluster in nuclei leggeri
Anna Vigolo
Universita degli studi di Padova, 2019/2020
Relatore: Prof. Silvia Lenzi
Utilizzo di ioni pesanti nella terapia oncologica
Elisabetta Campedelli
Universita degli studi di Padova, 2019/2020
Relatore: Prof. Silvia Lenzi
Eccitazione Coulombiana di fasci di ioni radioattivi ad energie intermedia
Pietro Miglioranza
Universita degli studi di Padova, 2019/2020
Relatore: Prof. Silvia Lenzi
Isospin Symmetry Breaking Effects on Mirror Nuclei ⁴³Ti and ⁴³Sc.
Francesco Gentile
Universita degli studi di Padova, 2018/2019
Relatore: Prof. Silvia Lenzi
Differenze di energia di eccitazione tra stati analoghi in nuclei speculari di massa A= 30-40.
Martina Cottini
Universita degli studi di Padova, 2018/2019
Relatore: Prof. Silvia Lenzi
Study heavy elements with exotic beams at ISOLDE (CERN).
Marco Bortolami
Universita degli studi di Padova, 2017/2018
Relatore: Dr. Jose Javier Valiente Dobon
Correlaore: Dr. Andres Illana Sison
Studio della struttura dei nuclei ²⁴Mg e ²⁶Mg mediante spettroscopia gamma.
Mirco Del Fabbro
Universita degli studi di Padova, 2015/2016
Relatore: Dr. Francesco Recchina
Correlatore: Dr. Alberto Boso

Previous Arrays

The group has a well-established expertise in nuclear spectroscopy with high-resolution gamma-arrays. Since the first experiments performed in the 90s, the group has hosted GASP, EUROBALL, CLARA, as well as the first stage of the last-generation European gamma-array, the AGATA demonstrator.

View of the AGATA demonstrator mounted at LNL

Visiting LNL.

If you would like to propose an experiment, check the Useful links section
If you are planning to come to LNL for experiments or collaboration, you first need to register as LNL user. You can find some FAQ here
If you would like to book the LNL- Guesthouse, follow this procedure
You might also want to check:

Get to Venice Marco Polo airport
Reach Padova by train with Trenitalia
Get from Padova to Legnaro with Busitalia

Useful links

Get an overview of the LNL accelerators and the different experimental setups
Take a look at the beam time schedule
Check the latest developments of the laboratory in the LNL Annual Report
Become part of the community by registering to the LNL Users Group
Interested in proposing an experiment with GALILEO or AGATA?

Check the LNL PAC and the current call for proposals
Take a look at the possible TANDEM beams (negative ions beams) and ALPI-PIAVE beams (positive ion beams)
Check out this oldies-but-goldies tools:

Contact a staff member of the group to further discuss your ideas!

Look at the current job opportunities offered by LNL or check the possible bachelor, master, and PhD thesis offered by the group

Check the "Galileo Galilei" physics department of the University of Padova

Take a look at some of the official websites from different INFN sections:

Check for the call for proposals of other laboratories.
Or review the history of gamma-ray spectroscopy by reading about gammapool, or some more information on the HP-Ge arrays previously hosted by LNL:

GASP: gasp.lnl.infn.it
EUROBALL: euroball.lnl.infn.it
CLARA: clara.lnl.infn.it
AGATA demonstrator: agata.lnl.infn.it

Internal

Here you can find a list of tools and resources from INFN-LNL. Most of them require you to login with your INFN CCR-AAI credentials

To register computers, get access to the LNL gate, etc., contact directly the IT service of LNL by writing to calcolo@lnl.infn.it
Complete publication list
Document server Alfresco
Repositoy Baltig
File sender
Pandora
RP source rental
Cloud Veneto
The GALILEO wiki
The GALILEO elog
The L. Vannucci library of LNL
Call for proposals of other laboratories.

Maintained by: Irene Zanon & Daniele Brugnara