Discharge studies and prevention in the gas electron multiplier (GEM)

The gas electron multiplier (GEM) used as single proportional counter or in a cascade of two or more elements, permits to attain high gains and to perform detection and localization of ionizing tracks at very high radiation rates. As in other micro-pattern detectors, however, the occasional occurrence of heavily ionizing trails may trigger a local breakdown, with possible harmful consequences on the device itself and on the readout electronics. This paper describes a systematic investigation of the discharge mechanisms in single and multiple GEM structures, and suggests various strategies to reduce both the energy and the probability of the discharges

The LHCb Silicon Inner Tracker

The inner part of the LHCb main tracking system will be realized in a silicon microstrip technology. The experimental requirements suggest approximately 20 cm-long ladders and a readout pitch of around 200 m. The LHCb Inner Tracker system will consist of three tracking stations having a total of 12 detection layers summing to an overall silicon surface area of approximately 4.2 m2. A report about the status of the current R&D of the silicon ladders and tracking stations of the LHCb Inner Tracker is given

First results from LHCb inner tracker performance studies using new digitization software

A new code for Inner Tracker digitization has been developed within the Gaudi framework. First results from performance studies for the silicon Inner Tracker using this code are described in this note

The LHCb Silicon Inner Tracker

A silicon strip detector has been adopted as baseline technology for the LHCb Inner Tracker system. It consists of nine planar stations covering a cross-shaped area around the LHCb beam pipe. Depending on the final layout of the stations the sensitive surface of the Inner Tracker will be of the order of 14 m2: Ladders have to be 22 cm long and the pitch of the sensors should be as large as possible in order to reduce costs of the readout electronics. Major design criteria are material budget, short shaping time and a moderate spatial resolution of about 80 mm: After an introduction on the requirements of the LHCb Inner Tracker we present a description and characterization of silicon prototype sensors. First, laboratory and test beam results are discussed

The LHCb Silicon Inner Tracker

The inner part of the LHCb tracking system will be realised in a silicon microstrip technology. The experimental requirements suggest 20 cm long ladders and a readout pitch of around 240 m. The complete LHCb Inner Tracker system will consist of nine stations with an overall silicon surface area of approximately 14 m2, depending on the final layout of the tracking system. A report about the current design of the silicon ladders and tracking stations of theInner Tracker is given. First characterisations of prototype sensors and test beam results of ladders are presented

The Silicon Inner Tracker for LHCb

A silicon strip detector is being developed for the Inner Tracker of the LHCb experiment. The Inner Tracker consists of nine planar tracking stations and covers a total sensitive area of about 14 m2. Experimental boundary conditions suggest detectors with a read-out pitch of about 240 m and a strip length of 22 cm, and front-end electronics with a fast shaping time of the order of 25 ns. Material budget is a crucial issue since mechanical supports and front-end electronics are located inside the acceptance of the experiment. Studies on the sensor geometry, front-end electronics and detector mechanics are presented

The LHCb Silicon Tracker

Wide pitch silicon micro-strip detectors will be used in both the LHCb Inner Tracker and the Trigger Tracker. In total an area of 12 m$^2$ will covered with silicon using ladders of up to 33 cm in length. The design of both detectors and corresponding test beam results are presented

The LHCb Silicon Tracker

LHCb is one of the experiments for the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, dedicated to B-physics and CP-violation measurements. To fully exploit the physics potential, a good tracking performance with high effciency in a high particle density environment close to the beam pipe is required. Silicon strip detectors with large readout pitch and long strips will be used for the LHCb Inner Tracker after the magnet and the Trigger Tracker station in front of the magnet. The design of the Silicon Tracker in LHCb and corresponding test beam results are presented here

The LHCb Silicon Tracker

The LHCb detector is a collider experiment at the new LHC at CERN/Switzerland. It is dedicated to measure precisely CP violation parameters in the B-system. The LHCb Silicon Tracker is covering the regions of the tracking detector with the highest particle fluences. The silicon sensors are wide pitch strip detectors connected to multi-channel analogue readout amplifiers. The analogue data is then digitized and transmitted optically to the counting room for further processing. The following paper describes R&D of the silicon sensors performed including testbeam data. We present readout chip performance followed by an overview of the used data transmission system, which has been designed for radiation tolerance and low cost