Performance of 500 mu m thick silicon microstrip detectors after irradiation

This paper investigates the performance of 500 mum thick silicon microstrip detectors before and after heavy irradiation. Prototype sensors, produced by STMicroelectronics, have been extensively studied using laboratory measurements, a radioactive source and a beam of minimum ionising particles. The comparison with a standard 300 mum sensor shows that the collected charge in thick devices scales linearly with thickness. By over-depleting the irradiated devices, the pre-irradiated charge collection efficiency is fully recovered. The measured noise is in good agreement with expectations. Although more work is needed, the paper shows that 500 mum thick devices are a promising technology for very large tracking systems. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.