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Micromegas-based detectors are used in a wide variety of neutron experiments. Their fast response meets the needs of time-of-flight facilities in terms of time resolution. The possibility of constructing low mass Micromegas detectors makes them appropriate for beam imaging and monitoring without affecting the beam quality or inducing background in parallel measurements. The good particle discrimination capability allows using Micromegas for neutron induced fission and (n, α) cross-section measurements. Their high radiation resistance make them suitable for working as flux monitors in the core of fission nuclear reactors as well as in the proximity of fusion chambers. New studies underlined the possibility of performing neutron computed tomography (CT) with Micromegas as neutron detectors, but also of exploiting its performances in experiments of fundamental nuclear physics.

High detection efficiency and good room temperature performance of Schottky barrier CdTe semiconductor detectors make them well suited especially for X-ray and gamma-ray detectors. In this contribution, we studied the effect of electron irradiation on the spectrometric performance of the Schottky barrier CdTe detectors manufactured from the chips of size $4\times 4\times 1$ mm³ with In/Ti anode and Pt cathode electrodes (Acrorad Co., Ltd.). Electron irradiation of the detectors was performed by 5 MeV electrons at RT using a linear accelerator UELR 5-1S. Different accumulated doses from 0.5 kGy up to 1.25 kGy were applied and the consequent degradation of the spectrometric properties was evaluated by measuring the pulse-height gamma-spectra of ${}^{241}\mathrm{Am}$ radioisotope source. The spectra were collected at different reverse voltages from 300 V up to 500 V. The changes of selected significant parameters, like energy resolution, peak position, detection efficiency and leakage current were monitored and evaluated to quantify the radiation hardness of the studied detectors. The results showed remarkable worsening of their spectrometric parameters even at relatively low applied doses of 1.25 kGy.

The LHCb silicon vertex locator (VELO) is an array of silicon planes installed in a retractable roman pot system, which will enable the LHCb experiment to reconstruct and trigger on b-hadrons produced in collisions at the LHC. The VELO will be also used to attempt measuring the absolute luminosity with a novel method based on vertex reconstruction of beam gas interactions. In this paper the VELO system, its construction and the results from the commissioning phase are presented. The options for a possible upgraded detector are also discussed.

AS the high luminosity phase of the LHC is approaching, the CMS collaboration started research for the future silicon sensor baseline for the CMS Tracker phase II upgrade. Wafers of various materials (Float-zone, Magnetic Czochralski and Epitaxial), thicknesses from 320μm down to 50μm and n-bulk or p-bulk doping have been ordered at one manufacturer, HPK, for good comparison. Alongside, the feasibility of processing sensors with double metal routing on 6” wafers is explored. Different structures answer different questions covering aspects from radiation hardness to layout issues in this evaluation. A mixed irradiation program with protons and neutrons probes radiation hardness representing a mixture of charged and neutral hadrons expected in the CMS tracker after an integrated luminosity of 300ofb⁻¹ at several radii. This contribution gives an overview of the first proton irradiated diodes. Furthermore, a sensor with integrated pitch adapter on a second metal layer is characterised and presented for the first time.

FeSi compounds ore suitable for the construction of inductor cores in electronic DC-DC switching applications. This study provides directions for the development of the core material intended to be used in extreme condition environments, like particle accelerators or nuclear facilities, where the reliability of devices must be high. A FeSi based soft ferromagnetic alloy has been implemented and analyzed under the effect of γ-rays irradiation tests at ENEA Casaccia Res. Center, Rome, Italy. Prototypes have been exposed for a total 5 kGy dose. In order to obtain high magnetization field and low coercive field, special techniques of fabrication have been adopted. Pre- and post-damage SEM and EDS micro-analyses are provided.

The expected increase of total integrated luminosity by a factor of ten at the HL-LHC compared to the design goals for LHC essentially eliminates the safety factor for radiation hardness realized at the current cold amplifiers of the ATLAS Hadronic Endcap Calorimeter (HEC). New more radiation hard technologies have been studied: SiGe bipolar, Si CMOS FET and GaAs FET transistors have been irradiated with neutrons up to an integrated fluence of 2.2 · 10¹⁶ n/cm² and with 200 MeV protons up to an integrated fluence of 2.6 · 10¹⁴ p/cm². Comparisons of transistor parameters such as the gain for both types of irradiations are presented.

DEpleted P-channel Field Effect Transistor (DEPFET) active pixel detectors combine detection with a first amplification stage in a fully depleted detector, resulting in an superb signal-to-noise ratio even for thin sensors. Two layers of thin (75 micron) silicon DEPFET pixels will be used as the innermost vertex system, very close to the beam pipe in the Belle II detector at the SuperKEKB facility. The status of the 8 million DEPFET pixels detector, latest developments and current system tests will be discussed.

The LHCb experiment is designed to study B and D-meson decays at the LHC, in the forward region. It is crucial to accurately and efficiently detect the charged decay particles in the high-density particle environment of the LHC. For this, the Outer Tracker (OT) has been constructed. The detector has operated reliably under the challenging LHC conditions in 2011 and 2012. The performance of the detector is discussed in terms of high voltage stability, noise rate and single hit efficiency. New results on the hit resolution are presented. Finally, latest results on the radiation tolerance of this sensitive gas detector are discussed, after having received a total dose corresponding to about 100 mC/cm in the hottest region, and having operated with proton-ion collisions in 2013.