Gianfranco Paternò

• PhD
• Researcher at INFN - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare

Timepix4 is an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) developed by the Medipix4 international collaboration. It features a 448 × 512 pixel matrix that can be bump-bonded to pixelated sensors of various materials and thicknesses optimized for specific uses. Among its potential applications, Timepix4 can be utilized for spectral imaging, prov...

The rare kaon decay $K_L\to\pi^0\nu\bar{\nu}$ is extremely sensitive to new physics, because the contribution to this decay in the Standard Model (SM) is highly suppressed and known very accurately; the branching ratio is $3\times 10^{-11}$ in the SM with a theoretical uncertainty of just 2%. The measurement of this branching ratio could provide es...

Electromagnetic calorimeters used in high-energy physics and astrophysics rely heavily on high-Z inorganic scintillators, such as lead tungstate (PbWO4 or PWO). The crystalline structure and lattice orientation of inorganic scintillators are frequently underestimated in detector design, even though it is known that the crystalline lattice strongly...

It is known that the alignment of an high-energy e- beam with specific crystal directions leads to a significant increase of the coherent radiation emission. This enhancement can be exploited to create an intense photon source. An elective application is an innovative positron source design for future lepton colliders. Such scheme takes advantage o...

We present a novel Python tool for the analysis of Geant4 simulations that enhances our understanding of coherent phenomena occurring during the interaction of charged particles with crystal planes. This tool compares the total energy of particles with the potential energy inside crystal channels, enabling a complete examination of coherent effects...

A plethysmograph is a device that quantitatively assesses volumetric variations in an organ or the entire body, typically resulting from fluctuations in blood flow. In this study, a strain-gauge sensor that measures changes in the volume of the neck was used to detect the the cerebral venous outflow in the internal jugular veins. The resulting elec...

Although inorganic scintillators are widely used in the design of electromagnetic calorimeters for high-energy physics and astrophysics, their crystalline nature and, hence, their lattice orientation are generally neglected in the detector design. However, in general, the features of the electromagnetic field experienced by the particles impinging...

The high-luminosity requirement in future lepton colliders imposes a need for a high-intensity positron source. In the conventional scheme, positron beams are obtained by the conversion of bremsstrahlung photons into electron-positron pairs through the interaction between a high-energy electron beam and a high-Z amorphous target. One method to enha...

Purpose: This work aims at investigating, via in-silico evaluations, the noise properties of an innovative scanning geometry in cone-beam CT (CBCT): eCT. This scanning geometry substitutes each of the projections in CBCT with a series of collimated projections acquired over an oscillating scanning trajectory. The analysis focused on the impact of t...

We present the development of a full simulation model for crystal-based beam extraction based on the BDSim simulation toolkit and the Geant4 G4ChannelingFastSimModel and G4BaierKatkov models. A novel accelerator component, a bent crystal compatible with G4ChannelingFastSimModel, was designed and implemented. As a demonstration, we constructed a com...

Recent studies have shown that the electromagnetic shower induced by a high-energy electron, positron or photon incident along the axis of an oriented crystal develops in a space more compact than the ordinary. On the other hand, the properties of the hadronic interactions are not affected by the lattice structure. This means that, inside an orient...

In order to perform full simulations of crystal-based extraction from an accelerator, a combination of simulation codes for beam dynamics in an accelerator and channeling physics in crystals is required. Our solution exploits the Beam Delivery Simulation (BDSIM) [1], an extensive library that contains thick lens accelerator tracking routines and a...

Recent studies have shown that the electromagnetic shower induced by a high-energy electron, positron or photon incident along the axis of an oriented crystal in Strong Field regime is significantly accelerated. Since the hadronic interactions are not affected by the lattice orientation, a calorimeter composed of oriented crystals could exploit the...

Worldwide, female breast cancer is the fifth leading cause of death. Digital Breast Tomosynthesis (DBT) is increasingly involved in the routine diagnosis of breast cancer, providing quasi-three-dimensional reconstruction of the breast. DBT image analysis is time-consuming and Computed Aided Diagnosis (CAD) systems are becoming increasingly popular...

Progress in high-energy physics has been closely tied to the development of high-performance electromagnetic calorimeters. Recent experiments have demonstrated the possibility to significantly accelerate the development of electromagnetic showers inside scintillating crystals typically used in homogeneous calorimeters based on scintillating crystal...

X-ray sources based on the inverse Compton interaction between a laser and a relativistic electron beam are emerging as a promising compact alternative to synchrotron for the production of intense monochromatic and tunable radiation. The emission characteristics enable several innovative imaging techniques, including dual-energy K-edge subtraction...

The jugular venous pulse (JVP) is a one of the crucial parameters of efficient cardiovascular function. Nowadays, limited data are available regarding the response of JVP to exercise because of its complex and/or invasive assessment procedure. The aim of the present work is to test the feasibility of a non-invasive JVP plethysmography system to mon...

The aim of this study was the preliminary assessment of a new cationic contrast agent, the CA4+, via the analysis of spatial distribution in cartilage of ex vivo bovine samples, at micrometer and millimeter scale. Osteochondral plugs (n = 18) extracted from bovine stifle joints (n = 2) were immersed in CA4+ solution up to 26 h. Planar images were a...

Photon sources based on inverse Compton scattering, namely, the interaction between relativistic electrons and laser photons, are emerging as quasimonochromatic energy-tunable sources either as compact alternatives to synchrotron facilities for the production of low-energy (10–100 keV) x rays or to reach the 1–100 MeV photon energy range, which is...

We present the conceptual design of a compact light source named BriXSinO. BriXSinO was born as demonstrator of the Marix project, but it is also a dual high flux radiation source Inverse Compton Source (ICS) of X-ray and Free-Electron Laser of THz spectral range radiation conceived for medical applications and general applied research. The acceler...

We present the conceptual designs of BriXS and BriXsinO (a minimal test-bench demonstrator of proof of principle) for a compact X-ray Source based on innovative push-pull ERLs. BriXS, the first stage of the Marix project, is a Compton X-ray source based on superconducting cavity technology with energy recirculation and on a laser system in Fabry-Pé...

Interference effects are included in the X-ray coherent scattering models used in Monte Carlo codes by modifying each material form factor through a proper interference function, which is obtained directly from the measured scattering pattern. This approach is effective for non-biological materials, but it is impractical for biological tissues, due...

It has been long recognized that dual-energy imaging could help to enhance the detectability of lesions in diagnostic radiology, by removing the contrast of surrounding tissues. Furthermore, X-ray attenuation is material specific and information about the object constituents can be extracted for tissue characterisation, i.e., to assess whether lesi...

MariX is a research infrastructure conceived for multi-disciplinary studies, based on a cutting-edge system of combined electron accelerators at the forefront of the world-wide scenario of X-ray sources. The generation of X-rays over a large photon energy range will be enabled by two unique X-ray sources: a Free Electron Laser and an inverse Compto...

Many research and application areas demand photon sources capable of producing quasi-monochromatic X-ray beams in the multi-keV energy range with reasonably high fluxes and compact footprints. Besides industrial, research, commercial and cultural heritage applications, various biomedical applications could benefit from the features of this type of...

Coronary angiography is clinically used worldwide to diagnose diseases of coronary arteries. Despite its effectiveness, this technique is quite invasive and it is associated to significant risks due to the arterial catheterisation needed to inject the contrast agent. A valid alternative is using the K-edge subtraction method, which is based on the...

We present a conceptual design for a compact X-ray Source BriXS (Bright and compact X-ray Source). BriXS, the first stage of the Marix project, is an Inverse Compton Source (ICS) of X-ray based on superconducting cavities technology for the electron beam with energy recirculation and on a laser system in Fabry-Pérot cavity at a repetition rate of 1...

The ELI-NP (Extreme Light Infrastructure-Nuclear Physics) facility, currently under construction near Bucharest (Romania), is the pillar of the project ELI dedicated to the generation of high-brilliance gamma beams and high-power laser pulses that will be used for frontier research in nuclear physics. To develop an experimental program at the front...

The need of a fs-scale pulsed, high repetition rate, X-ray source for time-resolved fine analysis of matter (spectroscopy and photon scattering) in the linear response regime is addressed by the conceptual design of a facility called MariX (Multi-disciplinary Advanced Research Infrastructure for the generation and application of X-rays) outperformi...

In this paper we report progresses in the realization of self-standing bent crystals, which are suitable as optical elements for Laue lenses, i.e. for optic to focus hard X-rays in the 100–1000 keV energy range. The curvature of the crystals is a key factor to enhance diffraction efficiency and energy bandpass for such an optic. In particular, two...

The ELI-NP facility will provide a monochromatic, high brilliance [Formula presented] beam with tunable energy up to 19.5 MeV. The time structure of the beam consists of 32 pulses of [Formula presented] photons separated by 16 ns and delivered at repetition rate of 100 Hz. In order to match such unprecedented beam specifications and to measure its...

The ELI-NP facility, currently being built in Bucharest, Romania, will deliver an intense and almost monochromatic [Formula presented] beam with tunable energy between 0.2 MeV and 19.5 MeV in two different beamlines. An articulated beam characterization system will be installed downstream of the collimator of each line. The system will use, as cali...

ELI-NP-GBS is a high-brilliance gamma source that will produce monochromatic beams in the energy range 0.2–19.5 MeV through inverse Compton scattering. In order to obtain a monochromatic beam a collimation of the emission is necessary. Depending on the energy, the angular aperture required to provide the design bandwidth [Formula presented]E/E=0.5%...

The ELI-NP facility (Extreme Light Infrastructure-Nuclear Physics) will deliver an intense and almost monochromatic gamma beam for frontier research in nuclear physics. Peculiar devices and techniques have been developed to measure and monitor the beam parameters during the commissioning and the operational phase. In this work we will present the C...

An extension to Geant4 Monte Carlo code was developed to take into account inter-atomic (molecular) interference effects in X-ray coherent scattering. Based on our previous works, the developed code introduces a set of form factors including interference effects for a selected variety of amorphous materials useful for medical applications, namely v...

The Gamma Beam System of ELI-Nuclear Physics is a high brilliance monochromatic gamma source based on the inverse Compton interaction between an intense high power laser and a bright electron beam with tunable energy. The source, currently being assembled in Magurele (Romania), is designed to provide a beam with tunable average energy ranging from...

Advanced applications of digital mammography such as dual-energy and tomosynthesis require multiple exposures and thus deliver higher dose compared to standard mammograms. A straightforward manner to reduce patient dose without affecting image quality would be removal of the anti-scatter grid, provided that the involved reconstruction algorithms ar...

The ELI-NP facility, currently being built in Bucharest, Romania, will deliver an intense and almost monochromatic gamma beam with tunable energy between 0.2 and 20 MeV. The challenging energy bandwidth of ≤0.5% will be adjusted through the collimation system, while the main beam parameters will be measured through a devoted gamma-beam characteriza...

A Gamma Beam System (GBS), designed by the EuroGammaS collaboration, will be implemented for the ELI-NP facility in Magurele, Romania. The facility will deliver an intense gamma beam, obtained by collimatio of the emerging radiation from inverse Compton interaction. Gamma beam energy range will span from 0.2 up to 19.5 MeV with unprecedented perfor...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance and refine the design of the collimation system for the gamma radiation source (GBS) currently being realised at ELI-NP facility. The gamma beam, produced by inverse Compton scattering, will provide a tunable average energy in the range between 0.2 and 20MeV, an energy bandwidth 0.5% and a f...

A technique to obtain self-standing curved crystals has been developed. The method is based on a sandblasting process capable of producing an amorphized layer on the substrate. It is demonstrated that the amorphized layer behaves as a thin compressive film, causing the curvature of the substrate. This procedure permits the fabrication of homogeneou...

Bent silicon and germanium crystals are used for several modern physics applications, above all for focusing of hard X-rays and for steering of charged particle beams by means of channeling and related coherent phenomena. In particular, anisotropic deformations are effectively exploited for these applications. A typical anisotropic deformation that...

This thesis is devoted to describe study and realization of Laue lenses to be used in medical applications. Laue lenses exploit Bragg diffraction of high-energy radiation from crystals to focus a photon beam toward a small focal spot. It has been demonstrated that this capability can by exploited both in nuclear medicine and radiation therapy. In p...

A Laue lens is an optical component composed of a set of crystals that produce a convergent beam exploiting X-ray diffraction in transmission geometry. Employment of a system formed by a properly designed Laue lens coupled with an X-ray unit to selectively irradiate tumours is proposed. A convergent beam leads to a depth dose profile with a pronoun...

Ion implantation is proposed to produce self-standing bent monocrystals. A Si sample 0.2mm thick was bent to a radius of curvature of 10.5m. The sample curvature was characterized by interferometric measurements; the crystalline quality of the bulk was tested by X-ray diffraction in transmission geometry through synchrotron light at ESRF (Grenoble,...

X- and γ-ray detection is currently a hot topic for a wide scientific community, spanning from astrophysics to nuclear medicine. However, lack of optics capable of focusing photons of energies in the energy range 0.1-1 MeV leaves the photon detection to a direct-view approach, resulting in a limited efficiency and resolution. The main scope of the...

The grooving technique was employed for manufacturing a self-standing curved Ge crystal. The crystal focuses hard X-rays with high efficiency by diffraction in Laue geometry through asymmetric bent planes. The sample was tested at the Institut Laue–Langevin (Grenoble, France), undergoing two types of characterization. A monochromatic and low-diverg...

A Laue lens is an ensemble of crystals capable of focusing, through diffraction in transmission geometry, a fraction of the photons emitted by an X- or γ-ray source onto a small area of a detector. The present study facilitates a thorough understanding of the effect of each system parameter on the efficiency, the resolution and the field of view of...

(311) curved planes can be exploited for efficiently focus hard X-rays. With this purpose, a self-standing bent crystal was manufactured at the Sensor and Semiconductor Laboratory of Ferrara (Italy). The crystal was designed as an optical component for a X-ray concentrator such as a Laue lens. The curvature of (311) planes was obtained through the...

A germanium crystal was bent through a grid of superficial grooves, manufactured on the sample surface. The resulting diffraction planes were bent thanks to quasi-mosaicity, which is an effect of mechanical anisotropy in crystals. High integrated diffraction efficiency was achieved in symmetric Laue geometry with a monochromatic X-ray beam set at 1...