The mini-calorimeter of the AGILE satellite

AGILE is an Italian Space Agency (ASI) space mission for high energy astrophysics in the gamma ray energy range 30MeV-50GeV, and in the X-ray band 10keV-40keV. AGILE is composed of three detecting systems: a Tungsten-Silicon Tracker, a CsI(Tl) Mini-Calorimeter and a Silicon based X-ray detector (Super-Agile), plus an anticoincidence system for background rejection. The satellite will have good imaging performances (with angular resolution of a few arc-minutes in the gamma ray band), good timing resolution and a large field of view (about 1/5 of the sky). AGILE detection principle is based on the pair production process that arises from the interaction of high energy photons with the Tungsten layers of the Silicon Tracker. The Silicon Tracker determines the direction of the incoming radiation, while the Mini-Calorimeter contributes to the evaluation of the interacting photons' energy. The Mini-Calorimeter can also work as a stand-alone gamma ray detector in the energy range 250keV-250MeV, with no imaging capabilities, for the detection of transients and gamma ray burst events (in cooperation with Super-Agile) and for the evaluation of gamma ray background fluctuations. We report the status and the result of the latest tests on the Mini-Calorimeter models already realized.