Nuclear Physics Seminar

The Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF) pursues a broad physics program at Fermilab's Tevatron collider. Between Run II commissioning in early 2001 and the end of operations in September 2011, the Tevatron delivered 12 fb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity of $p{\bar{p}}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=1.96$~TeV. The physics at CDF includes precise measurements of the masses of the top quark and $W$ boson, measurement of CP violation and $B_s$-mixing, and searches for Higgs bosons and new physics signatures, all of which require heavy flavor tagging with large charged particle tracking acceptance. To realize these goals, in 2001 CDF installed eight layers of silicon microstrip detectors around its interaction region. These detectors were designed for 2--5 years of operation and were expected to be replaced in 2004. The sensors were not replaced, and the Tevatron run was extended for several years beyond its design, exposing the sensors and electronics to much higher radiation doses than anticipated.
In this talk I will describe the CDFII silicon detector, the preventive measures undertaken, and the studies of the detector performance including radiation damage of the silicon sensors.
I will also describe how the silicon detector was successfully used to implement a high efficiency hardware trigger (S.V.T) able to select, while taking data, events with secondary displaced vertex, clear signature of long life particle decay.