Recent results from the ATLAS SCT irradiation programme

The irradiation facility at the CERN proton synchrotron, set up to irradiate full-size prototypes of silicon microstrip detectors for the ATLAS semiconductor tracker, is described and measurements of the detector currents during irradiation are reported, The detector dark currents can be described by bulk radiation damage models demonstrating the radiation hardness of the detector design and allowing the current damage factor alpha and the acceptor introduction term beta to be determined. Results from testbeam studies of a module with an irradiated detector and binary readout in a magnetic field and with the beam incident over a range of angles are reported. The hit efficiency and spatial resolution satisfy the requirements for the SCT provided the detector is operated at the full charge collection voltage. The Lorentz angle was not found to be affected by the irradiation. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.