Effects of Simulated Solar Wind on Polymethyl Methacrylate Thin Film.

Space exploration missions are currently becoming more frequent, due to the ambition for space colonization in sight of strengthening terrestrial technologies and extracting new raw materials and/or resources. In this field, the study of the materials' behaviour when exposed to space conditions is fundamental for enabling the use of currently existing materials or the development of new materials suitable for application in extra-terrestrial environments. In particular, the versatility of polymers renders them suitable for advanced applications, but the effects of space radiation on these materials are not yet fully understood.

Infrared study on the thermal evolution of solid state formamide.

Laboratory experiments have shown that the energetic processing, i.e. ion bombardment and UV photolysis, of interstellar grain mantles and cometary surfaces is efficient in the production of formamide.

Thermal neutron detection using a silicon pad detector and ⁶LiF removable converters.

A semiconductor detector coupled with a neutron converter is a good candidate for neutron detection, especially for its compactness and reliability if compared with other devices, such as (3)He tubes, even though its intrinsic efficiency is rather lower. In this paper we show a neutron detector design consisting of a 3 cm × 3 cm silicon pad detector coupled with one or two external (6)LiF layers, enriched in (6)Li at 95%, placed in contact with the Si active surfaces. This prototype, first characterized and tested at INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Sud and then at JRC Ispra, was successfully shown to detect thermal neutrons with the expected efficiency and an outstanding gamma rejection capability.

Development of a thermal neutron detector based on scintillating fibers and silicon photomultipliers.

We propose a technique for thermal neutron detection, based on a (6)Li converter placed in front of scintillating fibers readout by means of silicon photomultipliers. Such a technique allows building cheap and compact detectors and dosimeters, thus possibly opening new perspectives in terms of granular monitoring of neutron fluxes as well as space-resolved neutron detection.