R&D for the local support and cooling channel for the ATLAS Pixel Insertable B-Layer (IBL)

The Pixel Detector is the innermost tracking detector of the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. A new internal pixel layer will be installed inside the existing three, in the space between the actual B-layer and a new smaller beam-pipe. The tracking performance will be enhanced due to a smaller radius, and the presence of a fourth layer will give higher redundancy and reliability to the Pixel Detector. After a description of this project and its relevant requirements, the current work on the design of local support and cooling channel is presented as well as the results of FEM analyses, of experimental prototyping, measurements and tests.