MINIT: A new gas detector for very low threshold particle identification

We report on the first results of in-beam tests performed with the MINIT detection technique. Its modular structure of multilayer ionization chamber with proportional avalanche multiplication allows to detect and identify heavy ions with a very low energy threshold. Its simple mechanical structure, based on a glass microstrip plate, should allow the realization of cheap large-area arrays of similar detectors, in view of the next generation of experiments with radioactive ion beams.