N3G project: front-end electronics and mechanical advances

The higher counting-rate and radiation hardness required by modern gamma spectroscopy experiments highlight the need for a new generation of High-Purity Germanium detectors based on electrons-collecting electrodes. To achieve this goal, new doping technologies are required. The one studied by the N3G (Next Generation Germanium Gamma detectors) project is the Pulsed Laser Melting. Besides the development of innovative segmented High-Purity Germanium crystals, the project is also aimed at developing a detector case complete of contact structures and front-end electronics. A specific integrated circuit pre-amplifier is being designed: a first version was tested at room temperature, using a pulser as pre-amplifier input. A resolution of 1.08 keV with 15 pF input capacitance, reproducing the one of a detector single segment, was obtained with 6 us shaping time.