Blog

RES-NOVA cryostat

March 2025 @ UNIMIB

OXY is up and running🥶

Oxy, our new cryostat is up and running at ~9 mK — one of the largest in Italy, and surely the coldest and largest in the Milano area!

Red 'BEAM ON' warning sign on an orange wall with control switches below.

February 2025 @ ISIS-ChipIR

Beam ON ☢️

Last round of neutron irradiation at ChipIR of our detector components! 🎯
Thanks to Carlo C. and all the ChipIR team!

A green printed circuit board (PCB) labeled 'RES-NOVA' and 'INFN' with various resistors, capacitors, and test points.

February 2025 @ UNIMIB

First electronics boards

The electronic team has designed and produced the first batch of pre-amplifier board for reading out our detectors!

We are moving forward at a steady pace, and RES-NOVA is leaving a footprint! 👣

series of photos showing the delivery and handling of large wooden crates. One image features three smiling men in an elevator with a crate, another shows multiple crates in a hallway, a third depicts a truck being unloaded on a street, and the last one captures a storage area with crates and equipment behind caution tape.
series of photos showing the delivery and handling of large wooden crates. One image features three smiling men in an elevator with a crate, another shows multiple crates in a hallway, a third depicts a truck being unloaded on a street, and the last one captures a storage area with crates and equipment behind caution tape
series of photos showing the delivery and handling of large wooden crates. One image features three smiling men in an elevator with a crate, another shows multiple crates in a hallway, a third depicts a truck being unloaded on a street, and the last one captures a storage area with crates and equipment behind caution tape
series of photos showing the delivery and handling of large wooden crates. One image features three smiling men in an elevator with a crate, another shows multiple crates in a hallway, a third depicts a truck being unloaded on a street, and the last one captures a storage area with crates and equipment behind caution tape

January 2025 @ UNIMIB

A big present from England!

A big delivery truck just brought us a big surprise — our cryostat has arrived! 🥶❄️

A huge thank you to the incredible team at the mechanical workshop for their invaluable support in making this happen! 🚀 🔧

We can't wait to put it to work! Stay tuned for updates!

A labeled setup showing a neutron beam directed at a sample holder. The labels indicate 'Neutrons' pointing towards the beam path and 'Samples' marking a plastic bag attached to a metal rod.

November 2024 @ ChipIR (UK)

Cosmogenic activation reproduction @ ChipIR 

We successfully irradiated various samples of archaeological Pb at the ChipIR facility. This allowed us to simulate and reproduce the effects of cosmogenic activation on the RES-NOVA crystals. The unique capabilities of the ChipIR facility lie in its ability to simulate exposure to cosmic rays equivalent to hundreds of years in just a few hours of irradiation.
We extend our gratitude to the scientific staff at ChipIR for their invaluable support!

Title page of a bachelor thesis from the University of Milano-Bicocca, Physics Department. The title reads: 'Cosmogenic activation of PbWO₄ crystals for the RES-NOVA experiment'

November 2024 @ UNIMIB

Angelo's Bachelor thesis defense!

Angelo, a brave young doctor who dares to become the first Bachelor student of RES-NOVA.
Congrats!

A person wearing blue gloves holds a cylindrical metal object in a laboratory setting.

November 2024 @ UNIMIB

Zone Refining of arch-Pb

The current purity of our archaeological-Pb (after refining and atomization) is about 99.97%. This is enough for our needs, however we might suffer from low yield of crystal production. For this reason we are starting an R&D on Zone Refining (ZR). We believe that with this methodology we can achieve a purity >6N, like in semiconductor industries. In the picture you can see an arch-Pb sample prepared for ZR. This was made from the Pb that was assayed at the LNGS.

A stainless steel table with multiple rectangular metal blocks, some sealed in vacuum bags

November 2024 @ LNGS

We have a very small  dedicated storage area @ LNGS

Likely, we now have a small storage aread at the underground lab of LNGS. This will be key for storing the refined Pb, that could get activated while the refining processes above ground.
We have transfered into our hut the ~100 kg of purified Pb. This will be refined and atomized before being ship to our friend at SICCAS.

An oscilloscope screenshot displaying two distinct voltage peaks in red over time, with a yellow baseline signal.

October 2024 @ LNGS

arch-PbWO4 cryo-measurement

The Gran Sasso team managed to run two small size prototype detectors of arch-PbWO4. One detector is equipped with a Ge-NTD, and it is featuring a sub-keV baseline energy resolution. This detector will be used for low-energy studies. The other detector is equipped with a TES (same as this) and it will help us in benchmarking the electronics noise at the few pA/sqrt(Hz).

A close-up of a dual-chamber scientific or industrial device with both compartments open, revealing gold-colored circular components inside

September 2024 @ UNIMIB

Alpha screening of Roman Pb

After over two months of background characterization, we set up our alpha screening stations. We are now investigating the surface activity of our Archaeological-Pb samples, produced using the same procedure as the bricks made in May 2024. The background rate of our detector in the 3-11 MeV region is below 0.015 c/h/cm².

A stack of dark metallic rectangular blocks placed inside a cylindrical vacuum chamber.

July 2024 @ LNGS

Roman Pb on GeMPI2

We started the gamma-screening of the first 100 kg batch of the purified Archaeological Roman Pb at LNGS.  We are using one of the best HP-Ge detector available at LNGS, and despite this the measurement will go on for at least 3 months. We are expecting to observe nothing! Roman Pb has an extremely small content of residual natural radioactivity.

UPDATE (Oct2024): unfortunately due to an UPS failure the measurement was stopped. Data will be available soon!

A sealed metal container with red tape around its sides, placed on a white surface. The lid has handwritten text in red ink reading 'Pb - Roman Atomizzato,' along with weight and measurement details.

June 2024 @ 3DLab (PL)

Roman Pb Atomization

Thanks to the advance technology of 3D-Lab, and to our LNGS friends, we have successfully atomized 1.5 kg of Archaeological Pb. With this powder we will be able to produce PbWO4 crystals using the Archaeological Pb.

Two metallic and plastic experimental setups labeled '1' and '2' placed on a stainless steel tray.

May 2024 @ UNIMIB/INFN

Refining Archaeo-Pb

At the UNIMIB Physics department we purified and processed the first batch of 100 kg of Archaeological Pb. The main goals were: improve the chemical purification, and produce regualr shape bricks of Pb. These will simplify the following step: the gamma-screening at LNGS with a gamma spectrometer. 

Four people standing outside a white industrial or research facility, waving towards the camera. The image is taken from inside a car, partially framed by the car window. The background features a building with Chinese characters on a red banner, green landscaping, and safety signs.

April 2024 @ Shanghai

The Chemical Plant

We visited the Kunshan Chemical Plant. The place where Pb will be converted into PbO and where WO3 is produced. These are the two main ingredients for the production of RES-NOVA crystals.