Measurements on a GaAs microstrip detector with 50 GeV/c electrons

Abstract A microstrip gallium arsenide detector (thickness 508 μm, strip width 100 μm, strip pitch and readout pitch 200 μm) has been tested in a 50 GeV/ c electron beam at CERN. Using the low noise Viking preamplifier chip (shaping time ∼1.5 μs) signal to noise ratios up to 25 were measured depending on bias voltage and angle of incidence. Applying the so-called η-algorithm (using the impact position-sensitive charge sharing between adjacent strips) a resolution down to σ ∼ 20 μ m could be obtained.