Detector performance of the ALICE silicon pixel detector

The ALICE Silicon Pixel Detector (SPD) forms the two innermost layers of the ALICE Inner Tracking System (ITS). It consists of two barrel layers of hybrid silicon pixel detectors at radii of 39 and 76 mm. The physics targets of the ALICE experiment require that the material budget of the SPD is kept within ≈1%X0≈1%X0 per layer. This has set some stringent constraints on the design and construction of the SPD. A unique feature of the ALICE SPD is that it is capable of providing a prompt trigger signal, called Fast-OR, which contributes to the L0 trigger decision. The pixel trigger system allows to apply a set of algorithms for the trigger selection, and its output is sent to the Central Trigger Processor (CTP). The detector has been installed in the experiment in summer 2007. During the first injection tests in June 2008 the SPD was able to record the very first sign of life of the LHC by registering secondary particles from the beam dumped upstream the ALICE experiment. In the following months the SPD has participated in the ALICE cosmic campaign to test the integration with all experimental sub-systems and to acquire data for alignment. Since the LHC start-up in November 2009, the SPD has been recording the LHC activities and in particular the first proton–proton collisions in ALICE.