Science, Research and Development
- Sputtering: PVD, HiPIMS, CVD;
- Chemical treatments: Electropolishing, etching, deposition, plasma treatments, cleaning;
- Materials, Surface analysis.
Ongoing activities 10
Experiments, funded projects and collaborations the group is currently involved in. Click a card for details.
Funded by the EUEPITA
European partnership for innovative and sustainable accelerator technologies, including superconducting thin-film RF cavities. Successor to I.FAST.
Read moreEPITA
×EPITA is a Horizon Europe co-funded partnership that continues the innovation programme started by I.FAST, developing sustainable technologies for present and future particle accelerators. The work spans advanced materials, manufacturing techniques and energy-efficient accelerator components.
Our group contributes its expertise in superconducting thin-film RF cavities and surface treatments, from coating development to the chemical and electrochemical preparation of cavity surfaces.
Funded by CSN5MAAT
Additive manufacturing of RF cavities by Wire-Laser Metal Deposition (INFN patent pending), integrated with CNC machining and in-process mechanical polishing.
Read moreMAAT
×MAAT explores the additive manufacturing of RF cavities by Wire-Laser Metal Deposition (WLMD), a technique for which an INFN patent has been submitted. Instead of machining a cavity from bulk material or forming it from sheets, the resonator is built up layer by layer from metal wire melted by a laser.
A key goal is the integration of WLMD with CNC machining in a single hybrid setup, so that mechanical polishing of the surface can be performed during the machining process itself — shortening the route from raw material to an RF-quality surface.
Funded by the EUiSAS
Innovate for Sustainable Accelerating Systems — energy-saving superconducting RF technologies for future accelerators.
Read moreiSAS
×iSAS (Innovate for Sustainable Accelerating Systems) is a Horizon Europe project that aims to significantly reduce the energy consumption of superconducting RF accelerating systems, the technology at the heart of most modern accelerators. Innovations span the whole RF chain, from cavity technologies to cryogenics and RF power.
The group takes part in the development of energy-efficient SRF cavity technologies, applying its know-how in surface treatments and superconducting coatings.
Funded by INFNESPP_SRF
Plasma Electrolytic Polishing (PEP) and Nb3Sn coatings for superconducting RF cavities, in view of FCC-ee.
Read moreESPP_SRF
×ESPP_SRF develops two enabling technologies for the superconducting RF cavities of future colliders, with the FCC-ee as the main target: Plasma Electrolytic Polishing (PEP), an environmentally friendlier alternative to conventional electropolishing for preparing cavity surfaces, and Nb3Sn coatings, which promise higher operating temperatures and lower cryogenic cost than bulk niobium.
Funded by CSN5SUPERMAD
Nb3Sn coating technology for superconducting resonant cavities dedicated to axion searches.
Read moreSUPERMAD
×SUPERMAD develops Nb3Sn coating technology for superconducting resonant cavities used in axion dark-matter research. Axion haloscopes need resonators that keep a high quality factor while operating inside strong magnetic fields — conditions where Nb3Sn, with its higher critical field and temperature, can outperform bulk niobium.
Funded by CSN5QUARTET
3D superconducting cavities in Al and Nb for qubit hosting, applying SRF know-how to reach high quality factors and long coherence times.
Read moreQUARTET
×QUARTET brings superconducting RF cavity technology to quantum computing. The project develops 3D cavities in aluminium and niobium designed to host qubits, where the SRF know-how of the group — surface preparation, coatings and cryogenic RF characterisation — is used to reach the very high quality factors and long photon lifetimes needed for long qubit coherence times.
CERN–KEK–INFN
Joint work on 1.3 GHz cavity surface treatments, in particular Plasma Electrolytic Polishing of hydroformed seamless cavities.
Read moreCERN–KEK–INFN
×A trilateral collaboration between CERN, KEK and INFN on the surface treatment of 1.3 GHz superconducting cavities. The focus is on polishing hydroformed seamless cavities — resonators produced without welds — using Plasma Electrolytic Polishing (PEP) developed in our laboratories, as an alternative to conventional electropolishing and buffered chemical polishing.
IFMIF-DONES
Neutron source for qualifying fusion-reactor materials (Granada, Spain). The group contributes to prototype chemistry, treatment protocols and RF measurements.
Read moreIFMIF-DONES
×IFMIF-DONES (DEMO-Oriented NEutron Source) is the international facility under construction in Granada that will use an intense deuteron beam on a liquid-lithium target to produce fusion-like neutrons, qualifying the materials for future fusion power plants.
During the current prototyping phase the group contributes the chemistry of accelerator prototypes, the definition of surface-treatment protocols and RF measurements.
DarkSide-20k
Direct dark-matter search with a liquid-argon time projection chamber at INFN Gran Sasso (LNGS).
Read moreDarkSide-20k
×DarkSide-20k is a direct dark-matter search experiment based on a dual-phase liquid-argon time projection chamber, under construction at the INFN Gran Sasso underground laboratory. Its extreme radiopurity requirements make surface preparation of detector components critical.
The group contributes surface treatments and cleaning procedures that minimise radioactive contamination of detector materials.
CUORE / CUPID
Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events — search for neutrinoless double-beta decay at LNGS.
Read moreCUORE / CUPID
×CUORE (Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events) and its successor CUPID search for neutrinoless double-beta decay with bolometric detectors at the Gran Sasso underground laboratory. Observing this decay would prove that neutrinos are their own antiparticles.
The group contributes the surface cleaning and treatment of detector components, essential to suppress radioactive backgrounds in the region of interest.
Completed projects 6
Funded by the EUI.FAST
Innovation Fostering in Accelerator Science and Technology — Horizon 2020.
Read moreI.FAST
×I.FAST (Innovation Fostering in Accelerator Science and Technology) was a CERN-coordinated Horizon 2020 project bringing together 49 partners to develop innovative technologies common to multiple accelerator platforms — from advanced superconducting materials and thin films to additive manufacturing and sustainability roadmaps.
Funded by the EUEASITrain
European Advanced Superconductivity Innovation and Training — H2020 MSCA ITN.
Read moreEASITrain
×EASITrain (European Advanced Superconductivity Innovation and Training) was a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network that trained early-stage researchers in superconducting materials, thin-film technologies and cryogenics for future accelerators such as the FCC.
Funded by the EUARIES
Accelerator Research and Innovation for European Science and Society — Horizon 2020.
Read moreARIES
×ARIES (Accelerator Research and Innovation for European Science and Society) was a Horizon 2020 integrating activity that developed European accelerator infrastructures, including work on thin films and coatings for superconducting RF cavities in which the group took part.
Funded by CSN5TeFeN
Thick Films for New-generation resonant cavities.
Read moreTeFeN
×TeFeN (Thick Films for New-generation resonant cavities) investigated thick superconducting films as an alternative to bulk niobium for resonant cavities, aiming to combine the RF performance of niobium with the mechanical and cost advantages of coated substrates.
Funded by CSN5SAMARA
Superconducting Alternative Materials for Accelerating cavities and haloscope Resonators for Axions.
Read moreSAMARA
×SAMARA (Superconducting Alternative Materials for Accelerating cavities and haloscope Resonators for Axions) studied superconductors beyond bulk niobium for two applications sharing the same technology base: accelerating cavities and the haloscope resonators used in axion dark-matter searches. Its results feed directly into the ongoing SUPERMAD project.
Funded by PNRRNQSTI
National Quantum Science and Technology Institute — PNRR Extended Partnership.
Read moreNQSTI
×NQSTI (National Quantum Science and Technology Institute) is the PNRR-funded Italian extended partnership on quantum science and technologies. Within it the group applied its superconducting-cavity expertise to quantum hardware, groundwork that continues today in the QUARTET project.