The Advanced Gamma Ray Tracking Array AGATA Original Research Article

New accelerator facilities for radioactive–ion beams will enter into operation in the next few years, providing the opportunity to explore unknown territories of the nuclear landscape. The foreseen harsh experimental conditions require the construction of a new generation of γ–ray detector arrays based on the emerging technique of γ–ray tracking. The “Advanced GAmma Tracking Array” (AGATA), proposed in Europe, will be built out of 120 or 180 highly segmented Ge crystals operated in position sensitive mode by means of digital data techniques and pulse shape analysis of the segment signals. AGATA will be capable of measuring γ radiation in a large energy range (from ∼ 10 keV to ∼ 10 MeV), with the largest possible photopeak efficiency (25% at Mγ=30) and with good spectral response. The very good Doppler correction and background rejection capability of this γ–ray tracking array will allow to perform γ–ray spectroscopy experiments using fragmentation beams with sources moving at velocities up to β∼0.5.