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A low-power prototype of neutron amplifier, based on a 70 MeV, high current proton cyclotron being installed at LNL for the SPES RIB facility, was recently proposed within INFN-E project. This prototype uses a thick Beryllium converter to produce a fast neutron spectrum feeding a sub-critical reactor core. To complete the design of such facility the new measurement of neutron yield from a thick Beryllium target was performed at LNS. This measurement used liquid scintillator detectors to identify produced neutrons by Pulse Shape Discrimination and Time of Flight technique to measure neutron energy in the range 0.5-62 MeV. To extend the covered neutron energy range He3 detector was used to measure neutrons below 0.5 MeV. The obtained yields were normalized to the charge deposited by the proton beam on the metallic Beryllium target. These techniques allowed to achieve a wide angular coverage from 0 to 150 degrees and to explore almost complete neutron energy interval., Comment: To appear in proceedings of ANIMMA International Conference, June 23-27, Marseille, France

The design of a low-power prototype of neutron amplifier recently proposed within the INFN-E project indicated the need for more accurate called for detailed data on the neutron yield produced by a proton beam with energy of about 70 MeV impinging on a thick Beryllium target. Such measurement was performed at the LNS superconducting cyclotron, covering a wide angular range from 0 to 150 degrees and a complete neutron energy interval from thermal to beam energy. Neutrons with energy above 0.5 MeV were measured by liquid scintillators exploiting their Time of Flight to determine the kinetic energy. For lower energy neutrons, down to thermal energy, a $^3$He detector was used. The obtained data are in good agreement with previous measurements at 0 degree with 66 MeV proton beam, covering neutron energies >10 MeV, as well as with measurements at few selected angles with protons of 46, 55 and 113 MeV energy. The present results extend the neutron yield data in the 60-70 MeV beam energy range. A comparison of measured yields to MCNP and Geant4 Monte Carlo simulations was performed., Comment: 12 pages, 20 figures, sources include tables of all measured data

In the framework of research on IVth generation reactors and high intensity neutron sources a low-power prototype neutron amplifier was recently proposed by INFN. It is based on a low-energy, high current proton cyclotron, whose beam, impinging on a thick Beryllium converter, produces a fast neutron spectrum. The world database on the neutron yield from thick Beryllium target in the 70 MeV proton energy domain is rather scarce. The new measurement was performed at LNS, covering a wide angular range from 0 to 150 degrees and an almost complete neutron energy interval. In this contribution the preliminary data are discussed together with the proposed ADS facility., Comment: Talk given by Mikhail Osipenko at the 11th International Conference on Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions (NN2012), San Antonio, Texas, USA, May 27-June 1, 2012. To appear in the NN2012 Proceedings in Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS)

Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) is exploited here to investigate the interaction of isolated sp carbon chains (polyynes) in a methanol solution with silver nanoparticles. Hydrogen-terminated polyynes show a strong interaction with silver colloids used as the SERS active medium revealing a chemical SERS effect. SERS spectra after mixing polyynes with silver colloids show a noticeable time evolution. Experimental results, supported by density functional theory (DFT) calculations of the Raman modes, allow us to investigate the behavior and stability of polyynes of different lengths and the overall sp conversion towards sp2 phase., Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures, 1 tables

The prompt gamma ray emission was investigated in the 16A MeV energy region by means of the 36,40Ar+96,92Zr fusion reactions leading to a compound nucleus in the vicinity of 132Ce. We show that the prompt radiation, which appears to be still effective at such a high beam energy, has an angular distribution pattern consistent with a dipole oscillation along the symmetry axis of the dinuclear system. The data are compared with calculations based on a collective bremsstrahlung analysis of the reaction dynamics.

Linear sp carbon nanostructures are gathering interest for the physical properties of one-dimensional (1D) systems. At present, the main obstacle to the synthesis and study of these systems is their instability. Here we present a simple method to obtain a solid system where linear sp chains (i.e. polyynes) in a silver nanoparticle assembly display a long term stability at ambient conditions. The presence and the behavior of linear carbon is investigated by Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) exploiting the plasmon resonance of the silver nanoparticles assembly. This model system opens the possibility to investigate an intriguing form of carbon nanostructures.

The results of experiments performed to investigate the Ni+Al, Ni+Ni, Ni+Ag reactions at 30 MeV/nucleon are presented. From the study of dissipative midperipheral collisions, it has been possible to detect events in which Intermediate Mass Fragments (IMF) production takes place. The decay of a quasi-projectile has been identified; its excitation energy leads to a multifragmentation totally described in terms of a statistical disassembly of a thermalized system (T$\simeq$4 MeV, E$^*\simeq$4 MeV/nucleon). Moreover, for the systems Ni+Ni, Ni+Ag, in the same nuclear reaction, a source with velocity intermediate between that of the quasi-projectile and that of the quasi-target, emitting IMF, is observed. The fragments produced by this source are more neutron rich than the average matter of the overall system, and have a charge distribution different, with respect to those statistically emitted from the quasi-projectile. The above features can be considered as a signature of the dynamical origin of the midvelocity emission. The results of this analysis show that IMF can be produced via different mechanisms simultaneously present within the same collision. Moreover, once fixed the characteristics of the quasi-projectile in the three considered reactions (in size, excitation energy and temperature), one observes that the probability of a partner IMF production via dynamical mechanism has a threshold (not present in the Ni+Al case) and increases with the size of the target nucleus., Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication on Nuclear Physics A

The excitation functions for different fragments produced in the 27Al + 27Al dissipative collisions have been measured in steps of 250 keV in the energy range 122 - 132 MeV. Deep inelastic processes have been selected by integrating events over a total kinetic energy loss window of 12 MeV between 20 and 32 MeV. Large fluctuations have been observed in all the studied excitation functions. Non-satistical origin of these fluctuations is confirmed by large channel cross correlations coefficients. Energy autocorrelation function of cross section excitation function presents damped oscillation structure as predicted for the case when a di-nuclear system with a lifetime similar with its revolution period is formed. The periodicity of the energy autocorrelation function is used to obtain information on the deformation of the 27Al + 27 Al di-nucleus., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables

The energetic proton emission has been investigated as a function of the reaction centrality for the system 58Ni + 58Ni at 30A MeV. Extremely energetic protons (EpNN > 130 MeV) were measured and their multiplicity is found to increase almost quadratically with the number of participant nucleons thus indicating the onset of a mechanism beyond one and two-body dynamics., Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letters

The $^{58}Ni+^{58}Ni$ reaction at 30 MeV/nucleon has been experimentally investigated at the Superconducting Cyclotron of the INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Sud. In midperipheral collisions the production of massive fragments (4$\le$Z$\le$12), consistent with the statistical fragmentation of the projectile-like residue and the dynamical formation of a neck, joining projectile-like and target-like residues, has been observed. The fragments coming from these different processes differ both in charge distribution and isotopic composition. In particular it is shown that these mechanisms leading to fragment production act contemporarily inside the same event., Comment: 9 pages, minor corrections