Upgrade of the Inner Tracking System of ALICE

TL;DR

The paper discusses the development and testing of new Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors for the ALICE Inner Tracking System upgrade, aiming to enhance tracking, impact parameter resolution, and readout rate for improved LHC physics experiments.

Contribution

It presents the design, development, and comprehensive testing of new pixel sensor prototypes for the ALICE ITS upgrade, focusing on performance and radiation hardness.

Findings

Prototypes demonstrate improved radiation hardness.

Sensors achieve higher readout rates.

Enhanced tracking and impact parameter resolution.

Abstract

The upgrade of the Inner Tracking System (ITS) of ALICE is planned for the second long shutdown of the LHC in 2019-2020. The ALICE physics program after the shutdown requires the ITS to have improved tracking capabilities and improved impact parameter resolution at very low transverse momentum, as well as a substantial increase in the readout rate. To fulfill these requirements the current ITS will be replaced by seven layers of Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors. The new detector will be moved as close as 23 mm to the interaction point and will have a significantly reduced material budget. Several prototypes of the sensor have been developed to test different aspects of the sensor design including prototypes with analog and digital readout, as well as small and final-size sensors. These prototypes have been thoroughly characterized both in laboratory tests and at test beam facilities including studies on the radiation hardness of the sensors. This contribution gives an overview of the current status of the research and development with a focus on the pixel sensors and the characterization of the latest prototypes.