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AGATA is a collaborative European project to construct and operate a gamma-ray tracking spectrometer. It is based on the research & development project started in 2003 which demonstrated the feasibility of achieving the goal of a 4π spectrometer through the technique of gamma-ray energy tracking in electrically segmented Ge detectors. The resulting AGATA spectrometer will have an unparalleled level of detection sensitivity to nuclear electromagnetic radiation. AGATA will allow the pursuit of a very rich science programme using both radioactive and stable ion beams.

 

Like previous gamma-ray detectors, the Advanced Gamma Tracking Array (AGATA) collects the gamma rays emitted when the nuclei decay, or when they are excited into a higher energy state by a laser or a collision with another particle. However, it differs from previous detectors in that it uses the novel technique of gamma-ray energy tracking in electrically segmented germanium (Ge) crystals, which dramatically improves the sensitivity.

 

More than 350 scientists from 43 European institutes constitute the AGATA collaboration and will use the instrument at several European host laboratories for complementary physics research programmes.