The Ring Counter (RCo): A high resolution IC-Si-CsI(Tl) device for heavy ion reaction studies at 10-30Â MeV/A

An annular detector (Ring Counter, RCo) is presented, which has been designed and built to detect and identify in mass and charge light charged particles and fragments with very low energy thresholds and high energy resolution. It complements the GARFIELD apparatus, operating at INFN Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro, to detect the forward emitted products of nuclear heavy ion reactions. It consists of eight sectors of a three-stage telescope, each one formed by an ionization chamber followed by eight strips of a silicon detector and by two CsI(Tl) scintillators. Construction features and performances are described and discussed in details.