Gallium arsenide telescope for measuring the time of flight of ionizing particles

An instrument made of GaAs strip detectors for measuring the time of flight has been designed and is presently under construction (LATIN detector). The GaAs detector and preamplifiers operate at the temperature of −55°C to reduce various noise sources. New methods regarding the readout system and detector layer arrangement aiming to attain an excellent time resolution are discussed. The characteristics of the GaAs sensors, the geometrical and mechanical arrangement of the detector and those of the preamplifiers are presented. The ultimate time resolution achievable by this detector in its present configuration is given.