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About one hundred magnets of six different types shall be installed in the High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) in the years 2026-2028 at CERN. The magnets design, construction and test are based on CERN collaborations with institutes and industrial partners in USA, Spain, Italy, Japan and China. Three types of correctors are based on Nb‒Ti technology and feature conductor peak fields in the 2 to 4 T range: for all of them the prototype phase has been successfully completed. The production is well advanced for the superferric correctors, and is starting for the canted cosine theta correctors and for the nested correctors. The separation and recombination Nb‒Ti dipoles D1 and D2, with a 4.5-6 T bore field range, are both in the prototype phase after the completion of the short model program. The most challenging magnet, the Nb3Sn quadrupole with conductor peak field above 11 T, is in the prototype phase at CERN and halfway through the production phase in the USA. In this paper we will give, for each type of magnet, an overview of the main achievements obtained so far and we will outline the technical points still needing validation from the prototype program.

Glass has been used in widespread applications within several sectors since ancient times and it has been systematically studied under different perspectives. However, its thermodynamic properties and the variety of its compositions, several aspects related to its durability and its alteration mechanisms remain still open to debate. This literature review presents an overview of the most relevant studies on glass corrosion and the interaction between glass and the environment. The review aims to achieve two objectives. On one hand, it aims to highlight how far research on glass corrosion has come by studying model systems created in the laboratory to simulate different alteration conditions and glass compositions. On the other, it seeks to point out what are the critical aspects that still need to be investigated and how the study of ancient, altered glass can add to the results obtained in laboratory models. The review intends also to demonstrate how advanced analytical techniques commonly used to study modern and technical glass can be applied to investigate corrosion marks on ancient samples.

In this work, the formation of micrometer-size crystalline monolayer (1L) MoS2 flakes with triangular shape and a central multilayer core is obtained by the sulfurization at 800 °C of pre-deposited ultrathin MoOx films (1.2–1.8 nm) on c-sapphire substrates. The thickness uniformity, crystalline quality, doping and strain distribution in the MoS2 flakes as a function of the initial MoOx thickness was evaluated by micro-Raman (μR) mapping. The excellent crystalline quality of the triangular 1L-MoS2 flakes was confirmed by micro-photoluminescence (μPL) maps, showing a very intense peak at ∼1.85 eV, that decreases in the central part, as expected for multilayers MoS2. A biaxial strain of ∼0.38–0.4% was deduced from the μPL data, in perfect agreement with μR results. Our results show how the sulfurization of pre-deposited MoOx films on c-sapphire allows, under proper conditions, to obtain 1L-MoS2 flakes with quality comparable to the one typically reported by the conventional chemical vapour deposition, with important implications for device applications.

We report the synthesis and characterization of a novel type of nanohoop, consisting of a cycloparaphenylene derivative incorporating a curved heptagon-containing π-extended polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) unit. We demonstrate that this new macrocycle behaves as a supramolecular receptor of curved π-systems such as fullerenes C60 and C70, with remarkably large binding constants (ca. 107 M−1), as estimated by fluorescence measurements. Nanosecond and femtosecond spectroscopic analysis show that these host-guest complexes are capable of quasi-instantaneous charge separation upon photoexcitation, due to the ultrafast charge transfer from the macrocycle to the complexed fullerene. These results demonstrate saddle-shaped PAHs with dibenzocycloheptatrienone motifs as structural components for new macrocycles displaying molecular receptor abilities and versatile photochemical responses with promising electron-donor properties in host-guest complexes., Junta de Andalucia-Consejeria de Universidad, Investigacion e Innovacion and FEDER(ERDF) "A way of making Europe" P18-FR-2877, ERDF "A way of making Europe", Universidad de Granada / CBUA

We report on the growth and characterization of epitaxial YBa$$_{2}$$ 2 Cu$$_{3}$$ 3 O$$_{7-\delta }$$ 7 - δ (YBCO) complex oxide thin films and related heterostructures exclusively by Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) and using first harmonic Nd:Y$$_{3}$$ 3 Al$$_{5}$$ 5 O$$_{12}$$ 12 (Nd:YAG) pulsed laser source ($$\lambda$$ λ = 1064 nm). High-quality epitaxial YBCO thin film heterostructures display superconducting properties with transition temperature $$\sim$$ ∼ 80 K. Compared with the excimer lasers, when using Nd:YAG lasers, the optimal growth conditions are achieved at a large target-to-substrate distance d. These results clearly demonstrate the potential use of the first harmonic Nd:YAG laser source as an alternative to the excimer lasers for the PLD thin film community. Its compactness as well as the absence of any safety issues related to poisonous gas represent a major breakthrough in the deposition of complex multi-element compounds in form of thin films.

The controlled deformation and engineering of the sp2 carbon network in atomically-precise nanographenes, and their substantially larger size as compared to typical optical dyes, opens new opportunities for the modulation of optical and electronic properties, but the peculiar photophysics of these systems is still poorly understood. Here, through a detailed comparative study of two well-defined distorted nanographenes, we show that they can exhibit interesting photophysical features, such as triplet-triplet annihilation delayed fluorescence, ultra-slow excited state dynamics, and excitation-wavelength memory effects on the nanosecond and sub-nanosecond relaxation cascades. Some of these behaviours are highly unexpected and strongly deviate from the archetypal behaviour of typical optical dyes. The distortion of the sp2 network was obtained by means of a non-hexagonal ring and a helicene unit, introduced by taking advantage of the high control provided by specific bottom-up organic synthesis. We believe the rich conformational landscape provided by the combination of the saddle-shaped curvature due to the heptagon ring and the helicene edge is at the heart of the uncommon photophysics.

The DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) is well suitable for searching for monochromatic and sharp $\gamma$-ray structures in the GeV$-$TeV range thanks to its unprecedented high energy resolution. In this work, we search for $\gamma$-ray line structures using five years of DAMPE data. To improve the sensitivity, we develop two types of dedicated data sets (including the BgoOnly data which is the first time to be used in the data analysis for the calorimeter-based gamma-ray observatories) and adopt the signal-to-noise ratio optimized regions of interest (ROIs) for different DM density profiles. No line signals or candidates are found between 10 and 300 GeV in the Galaxy. The constraints on the velocity-averaged cross section for $\chi\chi \to \gamma\gamma$ and the decay lifetime for $\chi \to \gamma\nu$, both at 95% confidence level, have been calculated and the systematic uncertainties have been taken into account. Comparing to the previous Fermi-LAT results, though DAMPE has an acceptance smaller by a factor of $\sim 10$, similar constraints on the DM parameters are achieved and below 100 GeV the lower limits on the decay lifetime are even stronger by a factor of a few. Our results demonstrate the potential of high-energy-resolution observations on dark matter detection., Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures. Update the content to keep up with the published version

In this paper we present the development of quasi-hemispherical gamma-ray detectors based on CdZnTe. Among the possible single-polarity electrode configurations, such as coplanar, pixelated, or virtual Frisch-grid geometries, quasi-hemispherical detectors are the most cost-effective alternative with comparable raw energy resolution in the high and low energy range. The optimal configuration of the sensor in terms of dimension of the crystals and electrode specifications has been first determined by simulations, and successively validated with experimental measures. Spectra from different sources have been acquired to evaluate the detectors performances. Three types of detectors with different CZT volumes have been fabricated, namely 10 × 10 × 5 mm3, 15 × 15 × 10 mm3 and 20 × 20 × 10 mm3. In the case of 10 × 10 × 5 mm3 crystals, the optimum pixel size determined by our simulation tool was confirmed by experiments: the best spectroscopic resolution of 1.3% at 662 keV has been found for a 750 μm diameter pixel detector. The best energy resolution values obtained for the 15 × 15 × 10 mm3 and 20 × 20 × 10 mm3 detectors were respectively 1.7% and 2.7% at 662 keV.

Lo studio della produzione associata di due o più bosoni rappresenta un test potente ed efficace del settore elettrodebole del Modello Standard (MS). I processi di questo tipo sono infatti sensibili alla presenza di possibili contributi di nuova fisica, i quali possono essere misurati in termini di discrepanze rispetto alle predizioni del MS. Utilizzando una Teoria Effettiva di Campo (Effective Field Theory, EFT), tali effetti possono essere parametrizzati e studiati sotto forma di accoppiamenti di gauge anomali. Le EFT non dipendono da un modello teorico in particolare e, di conseguenza, nelle analisi di ricerca di nuova fisica hanno un potere esplorativo maggiore rispetto all’utilizzo di teorie oltre il MS specifiche. La produzione associata di un bosone Z e di un fotone, nel canale di decadimento Z→νν, riveste un ruolo di particolare importanza: lo stato finale di tale processo consiste infatti in un singolo fotone, in quanto la presenza di neutrini non può essere direttamente misurata in un rivelatore come CMS. Il medesimo stato finale è tuttavia condiviso da numerose altre analisi di ricerca di materia oscura in collisioni protone-protone in cui coppie di possibili particelle di materia oscura, non rilasciando alcun segnale nei rivelatori, potrebbero simulare la presenza di neutrini. In questo tipo di analisi i processi Z(→ νν)γ rappresentano la sorgente principale di eventi di fondo e una misura precisa della loro produzione si mostra perciò necessaria, non solo per la sua capacità di testare il MS, ma anche per il contributo fondamentale che fornirebbe nella ricerca di materia oscura. La sezione d’urto di produzione Z(→ νν)γ è stata misurata per la prima volta dagli esperimenti installati ai collisori LEP e Tevatron, utilizzando rispettivamente eventi elettrone-positrone e protone-antiprotone. I risultati più recenti sono invece stati ottenuti a LHC, dagli esperimenti CMS e ATLAS, in collisioni protone-protone ad un’energia del centro di massa di 8 TeV (per una luminosità integrata di boh.1 fb−1) e 13 TeV (per una luminosità integrata di 36.1 fb−1) rispettivamente. Per questo lavoro sono stati analizzati i dati raccolti dall’esperimento CMS durante l’intero Run 2 di LHC ad un’energia del centro di massa di 13 TeV, per una luminosità integrata di 137.6 fb-1. Tecniche multivariate sono state implementate per identificare il fotone di segnale e per la prima volta sono stati considerati nello spazio delle fasi d’interesse anche i fotoni rivelati nelle regioni in avanti del calorimetro elettromagnetico. La loro inclusione è stata possibile grazie a un nuovo algoritmo, specificatamente sviluppato per questa analisi, che permette la reiezione degli eventi di beam-halo, che altrimenti costituirebbero il fondo dominante, nonché ineliminabile, nelle regioni in avanti. Un evento di beam-halo si verifica quando un protone interagisce con le pareti dei tubi a vuoto o con le molecole residue di gas al loro interno, producendo un flusso di muoni che viaggiano parallelamente alla linea di fascio e che possono dare origine a sciami elettromagnetici simili a quelli prodotti dai fotoni. La sezione d’urto attesa è stata calcolata massimizzando la funzione di likelihood ottenuta a partire dalla distribuzione del momento trasverso del fotone, e l’impatto delle incertezze sulla misura è stato stimato. I limiti attesi sugli accoppiamenti di gauge anomali hZ3 e hZ4 sono stati estratti parametrizzando il segnale con una funzione quadratica in hZ3 e hZ4. I risultati attesi forniscono limiti più stringenti di un ordine di grandezza rispetto ai limiti attesi ottenuti dalla precedente analisi a 8 TeV fatta da CMS, e di un fattore che varia tra 1.4 e 2 rispetto ai limiti attesi ottenuti dall’analisi di ATLAS a 13 TeV. The study of multiboson production is a powerful and effective way to probe the electroweak sector of the Standard Model (SM). Multiboson processes are indeed sensitive to possible contributions beyond the SM (BSM) that would manifest themselves as deviations from the SM predictions, for example enhancing the event yield in specific kinematic regions. These new physics effects can be parameterized in terms of anomalous gauge couplings using the framework of Effective Field Theories (EFT), that has the great advantage of being model-independent, thus providing more exploratory power with respect to a specific BSM theory. Among all the multiboson processes that can be explored, the associated production of a photon and a Z boson decaying into two neutrinos is of particular interest. Given that the neutrinos cannot be directly detected in a general-purpose detector like CMS, the signature of the Z(→ νν)γ production consists in a single, isolated photon. The same monophoton signature is shared by several physics analysis that search for dark matter at the hadron colliders, where pairs of dark matter candidates mimic the presence of neutrinos, and where the SM Z(→ νν)γ processes therefore represent the most important background. A careful and precise measurement of the Z(→ νν)γ production becomes then compelling, for both its strong capability of testing the SM and for the contribution that it would provide to a wide range of fundamental physics searches. The Z(→ νν)γ cross section has been measured and searches for anomalous gauge couplings have been performed first by experiments operating at LEP and Tevatron, in electron-positron and proton-antiproton collisions respectively. The most recent results are those obtained at the LHC, by the CMS and ATLAS collaborations. The analysis has been carried out by the CMS experiment at a center of mass energy of 8 TeV, while the latest results from ATLAS exploit the data collected during 2016 (with a luminosity of 36.1 fb−1), at a center of mass energy of 13 TeV. The measurement of the Z(→ νν)γ cross section and the evaluation of the limits on the anomalous couplings that are presented in this work are performed using all the data collected by the CMS experiment during the whole Run 2 of LHC, at a centre of mass energy of 13 TeV and for a total luminosity of 137.6 fb−1. Multivariate techniques have also been implemented for identifying the signal photon and, in addition, photons detected in the forward region of the CMS detector are for the very first time taken into account when defining the phace space. The inclusion of forward photons is possible thanks to a new algorithm specifically developed for this analysis that allows to reject beam-halo events, the otherwise dominant and ineliminable background events when looking at monophoton signature in the forward region. A beam halo event occurs when the protons interact with residual gas molecules in the vacuum chamber or with the wall of the beam pipe, giving rise to a flow of secondary muons traveling along the beam line that can lead to electromagnetic showers similar to those produced by photons. The expected cross section is evaluated performing a maximum likelihood fit to the distribution of the transverse momentum of the photon, and the impact of the uncertainties is estimated. The expected limits on the anomalous triple neutral gauge couplings hZ3 and hZ4 are extracted by parameterizing the signal as a quadratic function of hZ3 and hZ4 . The expected results provide more stringent limits by one order of magnitudine with respect to the expected limits in the previous CMS analysis, and by a factor that varies between around 1.4 and 2 with respect to the expected limits in the 13 TeV ATLAS analysis.

Heavy-ion collisions are a unique tool to study the quark-gluon plasma (QGP), a state of matter in which quarks and gluons are not bound within hadrons by the strong force. QGP is expected to form when high energy density and temperature conditions are reached, as in heavy-ion collisions. One proposed signature of QGP formation is the strangeness enhancement effect, which consists in an increase of the ratio of strange to non-strange hadron yields in Pb-Pb collisions with respect to minimum bias pp collisions. This effect has been further investigated within the ALICE collaboration by studying its dependence on the multiplicity of charged particles produced in different collision systems. Results show that the ratios of different strange hadron yields to pion yields increase with the multiplicity of charged particles, revealing a smooth transition between different collision systems, from low multiplicity proton-proton (pp) collisions to high multiplicity central Pb-Pb collisions. This behaviour is striking as different particle production mechanisms are expected to be involved in the different collision systems. The work presented in this thesis addresses the strangeness enhancement observed in pp collisions, focusing on the production of the strange meson K^0_S and of the strange baryon \Xi^\pm in jets and out of jets in pp collisions at \sqrt{s}=5.02 TeV and at \sqrt{s}=13 TeV. The data were collected by the ALICE experiment during the Run 2 data taking. The aim of this work is to evaluate the contribution to the strangeness enhancement effect given by the mechanisms associated with hadron production in jets (hard processes) and out of jets. For the purpose of separating K^0_S (\Xi^\pm) produced in jets from the ones produced out of jets, the angular correlation between the charged particle with the highest transverse momentum p_T and with p_T > 3 GeV/c (trigger particle) and the \Ks (\Xi^\pm) produced in the same collision is evaluated. The trigger particle is considered as a proxy for the jet axis: K^0_S (\Xi^\pm) produced in the leading jet are found in an angular region centred in the direction of the trigger particle (toward-leading production), whereas K^0_S (\Xi^\pm) produced in an angular region transverse to the trigger particle direction are associated to out-of-jet (transverse-to-leading) production. For both K^0_S and \Xi^\pm, the transverse-to-leading yield increases with the multiplicity of charged particles faster than the toward-leading one, suggesting that the relative contribution of transverse-to-leading processes with respect to toward-leading processes increases with the multiplicity of charged particles produced in the collision. The ratio between the \Xi^\pm and the K^0_S yields provides insight into the strangeness enhancement effect, since the strangeness content of the \Xi^\pm is larger than the K^0_S one. Both the transverse-to-leading and the toward-leading \Xi^\pm/K^0_S yield ratios increase with the multiplicity of charged particles. The transverse-to-leading ratio is larger than the toward-leading one, suggesting that the relative production of \Xi^\pm with respect to K^0_S is favoured in transverse-to-leading processes. The results as a function of the charged particle multiplicity are compared with the predictions of different phenomenological models, namely EPOS LHC and two different implementations of PYTHIA8. In the last part of this thesis the further developments of this work which will be possible thanks to the large amount of pp collisions which will be collected during the Run 3 data taking are also discussed. Heavy-ion collisions are a unique tool to study the quark-gluon plasma (QGP), a state of matter in which quarks and gluons are not bound within hadrons by the strong force. QGP is expected to form when high energy density and temperature conditions are reached, as in heavy-ion collisions. One proposed signature of QGP formation is the strangeness enhancement effect, which consists in an increase of the ratio of strange to non-strange hadron yields in Pb-Pb collisions with respect to minimum bias pp collisions. This effect has been further investigated within the ALICE collaboration by studying its dependence on the multiplicity of charged particles produced in different collision systems. Results show that the ratios of different strange hadron yields to pion yields increase with the multiplicity of charged particles, revealing a smooth transition between different collision systems, from low multiplicity proton-proton (pp) collisions to high multiplicity central Pb-Pb collisions. This behaviour is striking as different particle production mechanisms are expected to be involved in the different collision systems. The work presented in this thesis addresses the strangeness enhancement observed in pp collisions, focusing on the production of the strange meson K^0_S and of the strange baryon \Xi^\pm in jets and out of jets in pp collisions at \sqrt{s}=5.02 TeV and at \sqrt{s}=13 TeV. The data were collected by the ALICE experiment during the Run 2 data taking. The aim of this work is to evaluate the contribution to the strangeness enhancement effect given by the mechanisms associated with hadron production in jets (hard processes) and out of jets. For the purpose of separating K^0_S (\Xi^\pm) produced in jets from the ones produced out of jets, the angular correlation between the charged particle with the highest transverse momentum p_T and with p_T > 3 GeV/c (trigger particle) and the \Ks (\Xi^\pm) produced in the same collision is evaluated. The trigger particle is considered as a proxy for the jet axis: K^0_S (\Xi^\pm) produced in the leading jet are found in an angular region centred in the direction of the trigger particle (toward-leading production), whereas K^0_S (\Xi^\pm) produced in an angular region transverse to the trigger particle direction are associated to out-of-jet (transverse-to-leading) production. For both K^0_S and \Xi^\pm, the transverse-to-leading yield increases with the multiplicity of charged particles faster than the toward-leading one, suggesting that the relative contribution of transverse-to-leading processes with respect to toward-leading processes increases with the multiplicity of charged particles produced in the collision. The ratio between the \Xi^\pm and the K^0_S yields provides insight into the strangeness enhancement effect, since the strangeness content of the \Xi^\pm is larger than the K^0_S one. Both the transverse-to-leading and the toward-leading \Xi^\pm/K^0_S yield ratios increase with the multiplicity of charged particles. The transverse-to-leading ratio is larger than the toward-leading one, suggesting that the relative production of \Xi^\pm with respect to K^0_S is favoured in transverse-to-leading processes. The results as a function of the charged particle multiplicity are compared with the predictions of different phenomenological models, namely EPOS LHC and two different implementations of PYTHIA8. In the last part of this thesis the further developments of this work which will be possible thanks to the large amount of pp collisions which will be collected during the Run 3 data taking are also discussed.

Inorganic nanoparticles of boron-rich compounds represent an attractive alternative to boron-containing molecules, such as boronophenylalanine or boranes, for BNCT applications. This work describes the synthesis and biological activity of multifunctional boron carbide nanoparticles stabilized with polyacrylic acid (PAA) and a gadolinium (Gd)-rich solid phase. A fluorophore (DiI) was included in the PAA functionalization, allowing the confocal microscopy imaging of the nanoparticles. Analysis of the interaction and activity of these fluorescent Gd-containing B4C nanoparticles (FGdBNPs) with cultured cells was appraised using an innovative correlative microscopy approach combining intracellular neutron autoradiography, confocal, and SEM imaging. This new approach allows visualizing the cells, the FGdBNP, and the events deriving from the nuclear process in the same image. Quantification of 10B by neutron autoradiography in cells treated with FGdBNPs confirmed a significant accumulation of NPs with low levels of cellular toxicity. These results suggest that these NPs might represent a valuable tool for achieving a high boron concentration in tumoral cells.

Magnetic materials exhibiting topological Dirac fermions are attracting significant attention for their promising technological potential in spintronics. In these systems, the combined effect of the spin-orbit coupling and magnetic order enables the realization of novel topological phases with exotic transport properties, including the anomalous Hall effect and magneto-chiral phenomena. Herein, we report experimental signature of topological Dirac antiferromagnetism in TaCoTe2 via angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES) and first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations. In particular, we find the existence of spin-orbit coupling-induced gaps at the Fermi level, consistent with the manifestation of a large intrinsic non-linear Hall conductivity. Remarkably, we find that the latter is extremely sensitive to the orientation of the N\'eel vector, suggesting TaCoTe2 a suitable candidate for the realization of non-volatile spintronic devices with an unprecedented level of intrinsic tunability.

Intense research activities have been made in the development of high-Z and wide-bandgap compound semiconductor pixel detectors for the next generation X-ray and gamma ray spectroscopic imagers. Cadmium telluride (CdTe) and cadmium-zinc-telluride (CdZnTe or CZT) pixel detectors have shown impressive performance in X-ray and gamma ray detection from energies of few keV up to 1 MeV. Charge sharing and cross-talk phenomena represent the typical drawbacks in sub-millimeter pixel detectors, with severe distortions in both energy and spatial resolution. In this chapter, we review the effects of these phenomena on the response of CZT/CdTe pixel detectors, with particular emphasis on the current state of the art of the discrimination/correction techniques. The results from original energy-recovery procedures of multiple charge sharing events, recently developed by our group, are also shown.

The increasing energy demand and the ever more pressing need for clean technologies of energy conversion pose one of the most urgent and complicated issues of our age. Thermoelectricity, namely the direct conversion of waste heat into electricity, is a promising technique based on a long-standing physical phenomenon, which still has not fully developed its potential, mainly due to the low efficiency of the process. In order to improve the thermoelectric performance, a huge effort is being made by physicists, materials scientists and engineers, with the primary aims of better understanding the fundamental issues ruling the improvement of the thermoelectric figure of merit, and finally building the most efficient thermoelectric devices. In this Roadmap an overview is given about the most recent experimental and computational results obtained within the Italian research community on the optimization of composition and morphology of some thermoelectric materials, as well as on the design of thermoelectric and hybrid thermoelectric/photovoltaic devices.

Graphitic carbon nitride (gCN) is a promising n-type semiconductor widely investigated for photo-assisted water splitting, but less studied for the (photo)electrochemical degradation of aqueous organic pollutants. In these fields, attractive perspectives for advancements are offered by a proper engineering of the material properties, e.g., by depositing gCN onto conductive and porous scaffolds, tailoring its nanoscale morphology, and functionalizing it with suitable cocatalysts. The present study reports on a simple and easily controllable synthesis of gCN flakes on Ni foam substrates by electrophoretic deposition (EPD), and on their eventual decoration with Co-based cocatalysts [CoO, CoFe2O4, cobalt phosphate (CoPi)] via radio frequency (RF)-sputtering or electrodeposition. After examining the influence of processing conditions on the material characteristics, the developed systems are comparatively investigated as (photo)anodes for water splitting and photoelectrocatalysts for the degradation of a recalcitrant water pollutant [potassium hydrogen phthalate (KHP)]. The obtained results highlight that while gCN decoration with Co-based cocatalysts boosts water splitting performances, bare gCN as such is more efficient in KHP abatement, due to the occurrence of a different reaction mechanism. The related insights, provided by a multi-technique characterization, may provide valuable guidelines for the implementation of active nanomaterials in environmental remediation and sustainable solar-to-chemical energy conversion.

We present the tests performed by the SIDDHARTA-2 collaboration at the DA{\Phi}NE collider with a quasi-hemispherical CdZnTe detector. The very good room-temperature energy resolution and efficiency in a wide energy range show that this detector technology is ideal for studying radiative transitions in intermediate and heavy-mass kaonic atoms. The CdZnTe detector was installed for the first time in an accelerator environment to perform tests on the background rejection capabilities, which were achieved by exploiting the SIDDHARTA-2 Luminosity Monitor. A spectrum with an $^{241}Am$ source has been acquired, with beams circulating in the main rings, and peak resolutions of 6% at 60 keV and of 2.2% at 511 keV have been achieved. The background suppression factor, which turned out to be of the order of $\simeq10^{5-6}$, opens the possibility to plan for future kaonic atom measurements with CdZnTe detectors.

The development of novel chemical approaches for the fabrication of gold nanostructures with localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) falling in the near-infrared (NIR) region is one challenging topic in nanomaterials science. Due to their optical and photothermal properties triggered by light excitation in the therapeutic window (λmax = 650-1300 nm), gold-based nanostructures are appealing candidates in anticancer nanomedicine. Here, we report a novel method to prepare water-dispersible gold nanostructures with NIR-LSPR (λmax = 600-1000 nm) properties. The gold nanostructures were achieved in a single step by an unconventional method using NADH as a reducing agent and an amphiphilic choline-calix[4]arene derivative (CholCalix) forming micelles as a template. The CholCalix-Au nanostructures were characterized by UV-visible spectrophotometry, Raman spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy. Agglomeration of the nanostructures due to multiple crosslinking interactions was observed and supported by modeling simulation. Effective anticancer photothermal-induced effect of the CholCalix-AuNPs was demonstrated on human breast cancer cells irradiated with biofriendly light at 808 nm.

Femtosecond transient soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) is a very promising technique that can be employed at X-ray free-electron lasers (FELs) to investigate out-of-equilibrium dynamics for material and energy research. Here, a dedicated setup for soft X-rays available at the Spectroscopy and Coherent Scattering (SCS) instrument at the European X-ray Free-Electron Laser (European XFEL) is presented. It consists of a beam-splitting off-axis zone plate (BOZ) used in transmission to create three copies of the incoming beam, which are used to measure the transmitted intensity through the excited and unexcited sample, as well as to monitor the incoming intensity. Since these three intensity signals are detected shot by shot and simultaneously, this setup allows normalized shot-by-shot analysis of the transmission. For photon detection, an imaging detector capable of recording up to 800 images at 4.5 MHz frame rate during the FEL burst is employed, and allows a photon-shot-noise-limited sensitivity to be approached. The setup and its capabilities are reviewed as well as the online and offline analysis tools provided to users., Journal of Synchrotron Radiation, 30 (2), ISSN:0909-0495, ISSN:1600-5775