Characterisation of a CZT focal plane small prototype for hard X-ray telescope

We are working on the development of a balloon borne telescope based on multilayer optics for energy from /spl sim/10 keV up 80 keV. This hard X-ray telescope requires a high efficiency focal plane providing both fine spatial resolution and spectroscopy with a compact and robust design. Currently the most appealing choice is offered by the development of CdTe/CZT detectors. Herein we present the characterization both in spectroscopic and spatial response of a small CZT detector (1 cm/sup 2/) with 0.5 mm pixel size. The readout of the detector use an innovative low noise and low power dissipation ASICs developed within the collaboration. We present the results of tests with both collimated and non collimated radioactive sources using the RENA front-end electronics and a back-end electronics, that comprises a 64 independent channels system with coincidence logic.