A telescope with microstrip gas chambers for the detection of charged products in heavy-ion reactions

Prototypes of a ΔE-E telescope, designed to detect and identify with low-energy threshold both light charged particles and heavy fragments, are described. They are based on a gas drift chamber which conveys primary ionization electrons on gas microstrip devices where multiplication occurs and the energy loss signals are generated. Silicon detectors or CsI(Tl) crystals operate as residual energy detectors. The prototypes were tested both with a source and heavy ion beams. Performances, mainly related to energy resolution, charge identification and angle resolution, are reported.