The INFN Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati was established in 1954 to host an electro-synchrotron, the first particle accelerator built in Italy, and since then played a crucial role in the field of nuclear and particle physics and for the development of acceleration and detection technologies. Within this historical tradition, a workshop was organized at LNF in the framework of the Nuclear Physics Mid Term Plan Italy, an initiative of the Nuclear Physics Division of the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, to discuss the detection techniques employed in nuclear physics and to identify the open issues to be addressed to realize the scientific programs of the experiments foreseen in a midterm perspective. The present report summarizes the outcome of the discussions.

Nowadays, 4H-SiC devices have reached a high degree of technological maturity. They combine a low on-state voltage drop, fast switching, high breakdown strength, and reliable operation at high temperatures, which has enabled their adoption in a broad range of applications. Despite this substantial progress, there are still margins of performance improvement associated with the optimization of the p-n junction characteristics. In this context, an innovative p+-i-n-4H-SiC diode was manufactured by CNR-IMM (Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems) and INFN-LNS (Laboratori Nazionali del Sud) in Catania. The detector consists of a 0.3 & micro;m-thick p+ layer with an aluminum doping concentration of 1018 cm-3, grown on 100 & micro;m thick n-epitaxial layer with a nitrogen doping concentration of 7 & times; 1013 cm-3. The device has been characterized by using the Transient Current Technique (TCT) with a 369 nm UV laser beam and a radioactive triple-alpha source, explicitly accounting for the contribution of the carrier transport to the collected signals. Experimental data from irradiation tests performed at the Institute of Microelectronics of Barcelona (IMB-CNM), Spain, are presented and compared with Sentaurus TCAD simulations. Complementary measurements under D-T neutrons at the Frascati Neutron Generator (FNG) demonstrate that the device is able to detect fast neutrons over a wide reverse-bias range. Taken together, the laser-, alpha-, and neutron-irradiation results demonstrate that the detector operates reliably under very different excitation mechanisms. These findings confirm its capability to detect multiple radiation sources.

Silicon Carbide (SiC) detectors are promising candidates for neutron diagnostics in fusion environments, where instruments must endure intense neutron and gamma fluxes, high temperatures, and restricted accessibility. Partial depletion operation enables online control of detector efficiency by varying the applied bias voltage, thereby tuning the response to adapt to the widely changing neutron fluxes expected in future Tokamak experiments. In this work, the functionality of two 4H-SiC detectors with different thicknesses (100 mu m and 250 mu m) is investigated under partial depletion conditions. Measurements are performed with 2.5 MeV and 14 MeV neutrons produced at the Frascati Neutron Generator and benchmarked against Geant4 simulations. Results show that detector efficiency can be predictably controlled within a factor of five without degrading energy resolution. Full depletion in the 100 mu m device was reached at lower voltages than expected, possibly due to doping variations or irradiation effects. These findings confirm the potential of partial depletion as a tool for real-time tuning of SiC detector response, with significant implications for neutron diagnostics in future fusion reactors.

Different reactions channels induced by the 18O + 40Ca collisions at 275 MeV incident energy are analysed within a a multichannel approach. Experimental data from many reactions are simultaneously measured and a consistent analysis is performed with the same reaction and structure frameworks. The results are part of the NUMEN project. In particular, the elastic and inelastic scattering, one- and two-proton transfer, one-neutron transfer, and single charge exchange reactions are explored. The experimental data are well described by the theoretical calculations, performed by including microscopic nuclear structure inputs.

. - Silicon carbide (SiC) detectors recently received an increased interest in the scientific community for their application in several fields such as medical one and nuclear physics. In this context, a part of the SAMOTHRACE (Sicilian Micro silicon carbide detectors to be used as dosimeter, micro-dosimeter and beam monitor. In this contribution, the first results on the characterization of two types of SiC detectors will be presented: the devices have an active area of 1 cm2 and a thickness of 10 mu m and 100 mu m, respectively.

The study of nuclear reactions and interactions in plasmas has recently assumed great importance because of its connection with processes such as laser-driven ion acceleration and nuclear fusion for massive energy production. In fact, the extremely high electron densities established in the plasma bring to different behaviour of charged particles with respect to that observed when a stable beam impinges on a solid target. Ion stopping power in cold matter is relatively well known and has been characterized with the help of a large set of experimental data and theoretical studies; on the contrary a lot of open questions remain when it comes to ions stopping in a plasma, especially in the energy domain where the projectile ion velocity approaches that of free plasma electrons. The main aim of this work is a systematic and careful measurement of stopping power for several ions versus plasma parameters, especially in the region of thermal velocities, where the energy deposition should depend strongly on plasma temperature, density and ionization fraction. The plasma will be generated under vacuum, by interaction of a laser beam with a solid target. Plasma plume will be characterized in temperature and density by optical and X-ray diagnostics; simultaneously the energy loss will be measured for an ion microbeam crossing the plume. This contribution provides an overview of the experimental technique and the results obtained during first tests for the characterization of experimental apparatus.

In recent years, the scientific community has shown an increasing interest in utilizing SiC-based particle detectors, particularly for investigations in nuclear and medical physics. This growing interest is driven largely by the remarkable properties of SiC, combined with advancements in device fabrication techniques. Within the SAMOTHRACE ecosystem -which focuses also on developing new-generation SiC-based detectors-significant progress has been made in characterizing these detectors for their use in both medical and nuclear physics. This contribution presents some of the key results obtained from this characterization process by means of first tests using radioactive alpha sources.

Silicon Carbide (SiC) detectors have emerged as a strong candidate in nuclear and particle physics as an alternative to silicon charged particle detectors and as a possible material for biomedical sensors and dosimeters, given their biocompatibility and relative insensitivity to light. This contribution presents the ongoing activity on a SiC detection system with a segmented geometry, where the effects coming from the interactions between different pads were analyzed as well as the cross-talk, the interaction between electric fields of different pads, the interpad contribution and the edge effects. Such a system will be developed for different purposes, from dose measurements in radiation dosimetry to real-time beam monitoring.

The FUSION project (an acronym for FUsion StudIes of prOton boron Neutron-less reaction in laser-generated plasma) was launched in 2022 by researchers from INFN (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare) and ENEA. This project marks the first scientific initiative funded by INFN in the field of Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF). The main objectives of FUSION are to develop a new generation of solid targets designed to enhance the $^{11}B(p,\alpha)2\alpha$ fusion reaction rate, being this reaction a potential candidate for future ICF schemes. FUSION will also focus on designing novel diagnostic techniques for measuring reaction products and, ultimately, estimating alpha and proton cross-sections in a plasma environment. The project will be carried out through two experimental campaigns at a laser facility equipped with a high-energy, long-pulse (picosecond) laser. In the proposed experimental setup, the $^{11}B(p,\alpha)2\alpha$ reaction will be triggered simultaneously ‘in target’ by the protons generated in the laser matter interaction and 11 B present in the same expanding plasma and in the ‘pitcher-catcher’ configuration. In FUSION, a set of measurements will also be dedicated to a first estimation of the proton and alpha-stopping power in a plasma. FUSION will enable a comprehensive understanding of the reactions and will help in optimize the conditions for future applications in inertial nuclear fusion with the $^{11}B(p,\alpha)2\alpha$ reaction.

The FUSION project (an acronym for FUsion StudIes of prOton boron Neutron-less reaction in laser-generated plasma) was launched in 2022 by researchers from INFN (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare) and ENEA. This project marks the first scientific initiative funded by INFN in the field of Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF). The main objectives of FUSION are to develop a new generation of solid targets designed to enhance the B-11(p, alpha)2 alpha fusion reaction rate, being this reaction a potential candidate for future ICF schemes. FUSION will also focus on designing novel diagnostic techniques for measuring reaction products and, ultimately, estimating alpha and proton cross-sections in a plasma environment. The project will be carried out through two experimental campaigns at a laser facility equipped with a high-energy, long-pulse (picosecond) laser. In the proposed experimental setup, the B-11(p, alpha)2 alpha reaction will be triggered simultaneously 'in target' by the protons generated in the laser matter interaction and B-11 present in the same expanding plasma and in the 'pitcher-catcher' configuration. In FUSION, a set of measurements will also be dedicated to a first estimation of the proton and alpha-stopping power in a plasma. FUSION will enable a comprehensive understanding of the reactions and will help in optimize the conditions for future applications in inertial nuclear fusion with the B-11(p, alpha)2 alpha reaction.

Peak detection is a fundamental task in spectral and time-series data analysis across diverse scientific and engineering disciplines, yet traditional approaches are highly sensitive to the choice of algorithm parameters, complicating reliable and consistent interpretation. Triggered by the requirement for the energy calibration for the 128 detectors of the PI3SO gamma ray scanner, we introduce a versatile methodology inspired by concepts from persistent homology, extending the traditional notion of persistence to a multi-parameter setting. Our approach systematically explores the space defined by multiple detection parameters and quantifies peak robustness through the hyper-volume in the parameter space where each peak is consistently identified. This volumetric multi-parameter persistence (VM-PP) measure enables robust peak ranking and significantly reduces the sensitivity of detection outcomes to individual parameter selection, demonstrating utility across simulated and experimental spectral datasets. Extensive validation reveals that this method reliably differentiates genuine peaks from noise-induced fluctuations under diverse noise conditions, proving effective in practical spectroscopic calibration scenarios. This framework, general by design, can be readily adapted to diverse signal-processing applications, enhancing interpretability and reliability in complex feature-detection tasks.

Radioactive Ion Beams (RIBs) hold significant potential in the fields of nuclear physics and medical applications, particularly in particle therapy. The main hindrance to use RIBs for both nuclear physics research and clinical applications lies in their complex production processes and the limitation of low beam intensities. Ongoing research projects are indeed underway in Europe and around the world with the aim of assessing the advantages of RIBs with high intensity. These research projects are focused on advancements in accelerator technology, targetry, and detector systems. Regarding these latter aspects, Silicon Carbide (SiC) detectors show notable promise in the fields of nuclear and medical physics due to their unique characteristics. This paper discusses recent results in the development of a detector system based on SiC technology. The detector system will also be used in conjunction with the FraISe (Fragment In-flight Separator) facility, which will be available in the near future at the Laboratori Nazionali del Sud of INFN (INFN-LNS) in Catania.

. - A full-comprehensive study of heavy-ion induced nuclear reac-tions is a powerful tool to characterize nuclear mean-field features as well as few-nucleon correlations in low-lying nuclear states. In this context, the investigation of 76Se(18O,17O)75Se and 76Se(18O,19F)75As transfer reactions was performed with the NUMEN project, aiming at providing data-driven information to constrain nu-clear structure models for the 76Se nucleus. This nucleus is under investigation since it is the daughter nucleus of 76Ge in the neutrinoless double beta decay (0 nu 1313) pro-cess. The experiment was performed at INFN-LNS where the 18O beam impinged the 76Se target and the reaction ejectiles were momentum analyzed by the MAGNEX magnetic spectrometer.

Radioactive Ion Beams (RIBs) are a unique tool to study the properties of nuclear structure, exploring also regions of the nuclei chart, located far from the stability valley. At the Laboratori Nazionali del Sud of INFN in Catania (Italy), the construction of a novel high intensity Radioactive Ion Beams (RIBs) facility named FRAISE, calls for novel detection systems for the diagnostics and the tagging of RIBs along the transport line. To this aim we are developing a novel detection system, based on an array of SiC diodes, readout by an optimized fast frontend electronics. The choice of SiC is dictated by its superior performance in terms of radiation hardness. In fact, the full detection system is designed to be housed in a DN160 spherical cross to be inserted along the beam path. $100 \mu \mathrm{m}$ - $180 \mu \mathrm{m}$ thick monolithic detector tiles, duly segmented in pads, will be arranged to cover a detection active area of about $30 \mathrm{~mm} \times 60 \mathrm{~mm}$ as required to reconstruct typical RIBs profiles in the high dispersion point of the fragment separator. As a consequence, it is critical to provide experimentally the detector response matrix and in particular the mapping of the timing response, particularly relevant as the ToF technique provides particle identification. The proper identification of “close” nuclei requires time resolutions of the order of 100 ps -200 ps. This contribution deals with the study and the experimental qualification of the timing response of the proposed detection system, through a detailed qualification of the timing properties of the developed frontend electronics and the map of the detector response at different beams in small format demonstrators carefully developed to mimic the different situations we will have to face in the final system.

First prototypes of large area, p-n junction, silicon carbide (SiC) detectors have been produced as part of an ongoing programme to develop a new particle identification wall for the focal plane detector of the MAGNEX magnetic spectrometer, in preparation for future NUMEN experimental campaigns. First characterizations of sensors from two wafers obtained with epitaxial silicon carbide growth and with different doping concentration are presented. Current (I-V) and capacitance (C-V) characteristics are investigated in order to determine the full depletion voltage and the doping profile. Radioactive a-sources are used to measure the energy resolution and estimate the depletion depth.

Background: Single-charge-exchange reactions are among the most appropriate nuclear tools to study the response of nuclear systems to isovector interaction. Nowadays, the availability of powerful experimental setups and advanced nuclear models bring the possibility of the complete study of the reaction mechanisms involved in the nuclear reactions, also in the case of heavy projectiles. This new possibility allows one to access valuable information on key nuclear structure aspects, including those embedded in the widely searched neutrinoless double-beta decay. Purpose: We intend to elucidate the main nuclear structure and reaction features involved in the 18O + 12C collision at 275 MeV beam incident energy. In this paper, the main focus is to quantify the competition between the sequential two-step transfer and the direct meson-exchange reaction mechanisms. Methods: The energy spectra and cross-section angular distributions for the 12C(18O, 18 F) 12B single-charge- exchange reaction are measured by the MAGNEX magnetic spectrometer in the same experimental setup of the elastic and inelastic scattering and the one-nucleon transfer reaction channels. The cross sections for the sequential two-step transfer and the direct meson-exchange single-charge-exchange reaction mechanisms are evaluated in a single coherent theoretical calculation, using state-of-the-art nuclear structure and reaction theories. Results: The energy resolution achieved in the study of the 12C(18O, 18 F) 12B single-charge-exchange reaction allows one to separate the ground-to-ground-state transition and to identify other structures in the measured energy spectra. The coherent sum of the distorted wave Born approximation cross sections of the direct and sequential reaction mechanisms well describes the experimental cross-section angular distributions. The crucial role of the optical model distortion in the scattering of the incoming and outgoing waves was taken into account via the introduction of the coupled-channel local equivalent effective potential. Conclusions: Advanced nuclear structure and reaction models turned out to be appropriate tools for the detailed analysis of single-charge-exchange reactions originating in heavy-ion collisions. This is of particular relevance in several fields of nuclear physics. Moreover, it is inherent to the challenging project to provide valuable information on neutrinoless double-beta decay nuclear matrix elements from single- and double-charge-exchange cross-section measurements.

The search for neutrino-less double beta decay has attracted much interest in the last years due to the extraordinary consequences that could derive from its observation. In the view to provide experimental information on the nuclear matrix elements involved in the expression of neutrino-less double beta decay half-life, the NUMEN project is measuring cross-sections of double charge exchange and other quasi-elastic nuclear reactions using the MAGNEX magnetic spectrometer. In particular, the newly proposed multichannel approach, applied both to the experimental and theoretical analysis, will be discussed.

Background: A systematic exploration of one-nucleon transfer reactions induced by the (18O, 19F) and (18O, 17O) reactions on different targets (12C, 16O, 27Al, 40Ca, 48Ti, 76Se, 116Sn) is being performed at the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare-Laboratori Nazionali del Sud (INFN-LNS) at beam energies higher than Coulomb barrier. A featured aspect is the adoption of a multichannel reaction approach, where several quasielastic processes are studied consistently from both the experiment and theory sides. Resembling the case of light -ion induced direct reactions, for which a large amount of data exists, the multichannel heavy-ion direct reaction is a powerful tool to characterize nuclear mean field as well as few-nucleon correlations in low-lying nuclear states. In this view, the study of different reaction mechanisms and nuclear structure models helps to characterize the nuclear wave functions and accurately scrutinize the parameters that control the uncertainties in the calculations of nuclear matrix elements (NMEs). In this context, special attention is recently paid to NMEs involved in second -order isotensor processes such as double charge exchange (DCE) and neutrinoless double beta (0 nu beta beta) decay. Purpose: We perform the experiment and the data analysis based on theoretical models of one-nucleon transfer reactions induced by the 18O + 76Se collision at energies above the Coulomb barrier in a multichannel approach. The 76Se nucleus attracts nowadays much interest since it is the daughter in the 76Ge beta beta decay, and the nuclear matrix elements involved in the 76Seg.s. 76Geg.s. and 76Geg.s. 76Seg.s. transitions are the same for time reversal symmetry. In particular, we intend to analyze transitions to low-lying excited states of the residual and ejectile nuclei in the 76Se(18O, 19F) 75As one -proton pickup reaction at 275 MeV incident energy by measuring the cross section. An additional goal is to determine the role of the coupling channels in the measured cross sections, testing different model descriptions of the involved nuclear states. Methods: Nuclear reactions induced by the 18O + 76Se collision were measured at INFN-LNS using the MAGNEX large acceptance magnetic spectrometer for the detection of the ejectiles. The missing mass technique was used for the reconstruction of the reaction kinematics. The excitation energy spectrum and the differential cross section angular distributions were the key extracted observables. The experimental data were compared with theoretical calculations based on the distorted wave Born approximation, the coupled -channels Born approximation, and coupled reaction channels. The adopted spectroscopic amplitudes for the projectile and target overlaps were derived by large-scale shell -model and interacting boson-fermion model calculations. In the calculations the initial state interaction and the nuclear structure model inputs were the same as those adopted in the study of elastic and inelastic scattering and (18O, 17O) one -neutron stripping reaction, published elsewhere. Results: Peaks in the cross section energy spectra corresponding to groups of transitions to 75As and 19F were identified and the experimental angular distributions were compared with theoretical calculations. A fair agreement between theory and experiment both in cross section values and diffraction pattern is obtained, without the need for any scaling factor, validating the adopted reaction and nuclear structure approaches. Conclusions: Resembling the case of the (18O, 17O) one -neutron stripping reaction, the couplings to the inelastic channels of projectile and target are significant for the one -proton pickup reaction and are likely to also play a role in the single and double charge exchange reactions. The fair description of the data is remarkable since no free parameter was used for this analysis, highlighting that the multichannel approach guarantees an accurate investigation of all the interesting reactions induced by the 18O +76Se collision.