Validation and Characterization of the GALTRACE Silicon Detector Array Demonstrator

The preliminary results of the GALTRACE (GALILEO TRacking Array for Charged Ejectiles) demonstrator are reported. GALTRACE is an array of Silicon PAD detectors for particle spectroscopy and discrimination to be employed in low-energy nuclear physics experiments with stable and radioactive beams at the Legnaro National Laboratories (LNL, Italy). The readout is perfomed with multi-channel, VLSI preamplifiers realized in AMS 350 nm technology, directly wire-bonded on the PCB. These preamplifiers have a resolution of 125 electrons rms and a risetime of 10 ns with a 4 pF capacitance referred to the input. The preamplifiers have a spectroscopic dynamic energy range of 40 MeV. This value is boosted by more than one order of magnitude by an innovative fast-reset device that allows for 40700 MeV spectroscopy with a resolution of less than 0.3% FWHM. After preamplifier test-bench characterization, a full validation of a TRACE demonstrator including detector, front-end electronics, single-ended to differential converters and digitalization system has been performed. The resolution of the 60 active channels, evaluated at the 5486 keV Am-241 alpha peak, is 35 +/- 5 keV