Operational Experience with the ALICE Pixel detector

TL;DR

This paper discusses the design, performance, and operational experience of the ALICE Silicon Pixel Detector, highlighting its role in data collection and trigger generation during LHC runs since 2009.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the SPD's features, performance, and operational procedures across multiple LHC data-taking campaigns.

Findings

Successful data collection from 2009 onwards

Effective calibration and optimization strategies implemented

Reliable trigger signal contribution to L0 trigger

Abstract

The Silicon Pixel Detector (SPD) constitutes the two innermost layers of the Inner Tracking System of the ALICE experiment and it is the closest detector to the interaction point. As a vertex detector, it has the unique feature of generating a trigger signal that contributes to the L0 trigger of the ALICE experiment. The SPD started collecting data since the very first pp collisions at LHC in 2009 and since then it has taken part in all pp, Pb-Pb and p-Pb data taking campaigns. This contribution will present the main features of the SPD, the detector performance and the operational experience, including calibration and optimization activities from Run 1 to Run 2.