A new Large-Acceptance Forward Angle Spectrometer (Super BigBite) is under development at JLab/Hall A to optimally exploit the exciting opportunities offered by the 12 GeV upgrade of the electron beam. The tracker of this new apparatus is based on the Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) technology, which has been chosen to optimize cost/performance, position resolution and to meet the high hit rate (>1 MHz/cm(2)). The first GEM detector modules, designed and built by the INFN Collaboration JLAB12, were tested at the DESY test beam facility in Hamburg, by using an electron beam with energy ranging from 2.0 to 6.0 GeV. In particular, two 40x50 cm(2) and one 10x10 cm(2) GEM chambers were equipped with a new implementation of the APV25 readout chip. Measurements were performed at different impact points and angles between the electron beam and the plane of the GEM chambers, with one large chamber in a solenoid magnetic field up to 500 Gauss. In this report we present the technical characteristics of the detector and comment on the presently achieved performance.

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In the framework of investigation of meson photo-production on proton and neutron in a deuterium target at the GRAAL experiment, we present a method to identify the vertex of interaction when in reaction products there are at least two charged particles, by the information provided by the cylindrical multiwire proportional chambers. By this device, we are able to obtain the direction of charged particles that leave the target after a photo-production reaction. For each charged particle, the device provides the coordinates of two points in the laboratory reference system, and the z-axis represents the beam direction. We calculate the trajectory of each charged particle and its cross point, representing the vertex of the reaction.

The Sigma beam asymmetry in the photoproduction of neutral pions from quasi-free nucleons in a deuteron target was measured for the first time between 0.60 and 1.50 GeV, with the GRAAL polarized and tagged photon beam. The asymmetry values from the quasi-free proton were found equal to the ones extracted from a pure proton target. The asymmetries from quasi-free proton and quasi-free neutron were found equal up to 0.82 GeV and substantially different at higher energies. The results are compared with recent partial-wave analyses.

Compact solid-state detectors based on CVD single-crystal diamonds (SCD), configured in a p-type/intrinsic/Schottky-metal layered structure, are proposed for the detection of high-energy ions at the 15-MV tandem accelerator of the Southern National Laboratory of INFN in Catania. The spectroscopic response of two thin-film SCD detectors has been studied by varying the angle of incidence of a 27-77MeV 12C-scattered ion beam and a simple theoretical model is reported for the fit of the experimental curves of the collected energy vs. the angle of incidence. A rough estimation of the detector sensitive thickness and of the charge collection efficiency has thus been obtained.

The gamma p -> eta'p reaction was studied near the threshold, in the 1.44 GeV > E(gamma) < 1.55GeV energy range with the tagged photons of the former GRAAL experiment. The two neutral decays gamma gamma(Gamma(i)/Gamma = 2.10 +/- 0.12%) and pi(0)pi(0)eta(Gamma(i)/Gamma = 20.7 +/- 1.2%) were analized and preliminary results of the beam asymmetry were extracted together with the invariant masses.

Beam asymmetry and differential cross-section for the reaction gamma p -> eta p were measured from production threshold to 1500MeV photon laboratory energy. The two dominant neutral decay modes of the eta-meson, eta -> 2 gamma and eta -> 3 pi(0) , were analyzed. The full set of measurements is in good agreement with previously published results. Our data were compared with three models. They all fit satisfactorily the results but their respective resonance contributions are quite different. The possible photoexcitation of a narrow state N(1670) was investigated and no evidence was found.

Experimental results on proton and charged pion detection obtained from a study of the +np+- reaction are reported in detail. Data have been collected using the tagged and linearly polarized photon beam, impinging on a deuterium target, and the large solid angle apparatus of the GRAAL facility in Grenoble (France). The energy of the charged particles was measured using a BGO calorimeter. A comparison of the experimental data with a GEANT3-based simulation is also presented.

Compton backscattering gamma ray beams are characterized by a high degree of linear and circular polarization with low unpolarized backgrounds and have proven to provide very precise measurements of polarization observables. Latest results from LEGS and GRAAL experiments on proton and deuteron targets are presented. The Sigma beam asymmetry for omega photoproduction has been measured by the GRAAL collaboration for both the omega -> pi(0)gamma and the omega -> pi(+)pi(+)pi(0) decay channels on the proton target; single and double polarization asymmetries have been provided also for the K photoproduction channel. E and G double polarization asymmetries for single pion photoproduction on the proton and deuteron have been measured at LEGS using a frozen spin HD target.

The preliminary results obtained by the GRAAL collaboration for the pi(0)pi(+) photoproduction on the free and quasi-free proton (deuteron) at E(gamma) = 0.7-1.5 GeV are presented. The total cross section of the gamma p -> pi(0)pi(+)n reaction and invariant mass spectra for the pi(+)pi(0), pi(+)n and pi(0)n systems are presented in the photon energy range from 0.7 to 1.5 GeV. These results are in good agreement with the 2 pi-MAID calculations.

The "standard" Hall A apparatus at Jefferson Lab (TOF and aerogel threshold Cherenkov detectors) does not provide complete identification for proton, kaon and pion. To this aim, a proximity focusing C(6)F(14)/Csl RICH (Ring Image CHerenkov) detector has been designed, built, tested and operated to separate kaons from pions with a pion contamination of a few percent up to 2.4 GeV/c. Two quite different experimental investigations have benefitted of the RICH identification: on one side, the high-resolution hypernuclear spectroscopy series of experiments on carbon, beryllium and oxygen, devoted to the study of the lambda-nucleon potential. On the other side, the measurements of the single spin asymmetries of pion and kaon on a transversely polarized (3)He target are of utmost interest in understanding QCD dynamics in the nucleon. We present the technical features of such a RICH detector and comment on the presently achieved performance in hadron identification. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The 2014-scheduled 12 GeV upgrade of JLab will allow for a whole new range of experiments, extending our knowledge of nucleon structure. The program for the nucleon form factors and elastic scattering parity-violating asymmetry experiments is presented here, along with the benefits of the new large-acceptance forward spectrometer (Super BigBite, SBS) to be installed in Hall A. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The study of meson photoproduction on the nucleon is a very important tool to complete the puzzle of baryon excited states. GRAAL aim is the measurement of cross sections and of beam asymmetries for all the photonuclear reactions accessible in the energy range from 600 MeV up to 1.5 GeV. In the following preliminary results of the Sigma beam asymmetry for omega photoproduction on the free proton in Hydrogen and on the quasi-free nucleon in Deuterium are shown. GRAAL is the first experiment in which both the charged and the radiative decay of omega meson are studied. Since the beam asymmetry is independent of the decay mode, the comparison of the results from the two channel allows an important check on data consistency. Results on the free proton are in good agreement with theoretical prediction from Zhao model and confirm the presence of P(13)(1720) state. The analysis performed for the radiative decay is applied to the process of. photoproduction on the quasi free nucleon in Deuterium.

A new Large-Acceptance Forward Angle Spectrometer [Super Bigbite Spectrometer (SBS)], is under development for the upcoming experiments in Hall A at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Virginia, USA), where a longitudinally polarized electron beam up to 12 GeV energy is now available. The excellent beam intensity (up to 100), combined with innovative polarized targets, will provide luminosity up to , opening interesting opportunities to investigate unexplored aspects of the inner structure of the nucleons. In one of the most demanding configuration, the new spectrometer will consist of a dipole magnet, one front charged particle tracker, two identical proton polarimeters with related back trackers and a segmented hadron calorimeter.The front tracker, placed just after the dipole magnet, consists of up to six layers of large area GEM (Gas Electron Multiplier) chambers; each chamber is made by three adjacent GEM modules of active rectangular area (18 modules as a total).We have chosen the GEM technology in order to optimize spatial resolution (approximate to 80mm), high hit rate, cost/performance and high radiation hardness.We present the main features of the SBS front tracker and its GEM detectors and, finally, we discuss the ongoing tracker commissioning at JLab and show some representative test results.

The Sigma beam asymmetry in eta' photoproduction off the proton was measured at the GrAAL polarised photon beam with incoming photon energies of 1.461 and 1.480 GeV. For both energies the asymmetry as a function of the meson production angle shows a clear structure, more pronounced at the lowest one, with a change of sign around 90 degrees. The observed behaviour is compatible with P-wave D-wave (or S-wave F-wave) interference, the closer to threshold the stronger. The results are compared to the existing state-of-the-art calculations that fail to account for the data.