A facility for long term evaluation and quality assurance of LHCb Vertex Detector modules

This note describes the facility developed for long term evaluation and quality assurance of the LHCb Vertex Detector modules, known as the 'Glasgow Burn-in System'. This facility was developed to ensure that the modules conform to stringent quality levels. The system was able to uncover any weaknesses that could be introduced during the manufacturing and assembly of the components or during the transport of the modules to CERN. The system consisted of: a high resolution microscope for visual inspections; and a burn-in system to operate cooled modules in vacuum. The main components of the burn-in system were a vacuum system, a cooling system and a DAQ system.