Diamond Pixel Modules and the ATLAS Beam Conditions Monitor

The ATLAS Beam Conditions Monitor’s (BCM) main purpose is to protect the experiments silicon tracker from beam incidents. In total 16 1x1 cm^2 500 um thick diamond pCVD sensors are used in eight positions around the LHC interaction point. They perform time difference measurements with sub nanosecond resolution to distinguish between particles from a collision and spray particles from a beam incident; an abundance of the latter can lead the BCM to provoke an abort of LHC beam. The BCM diamond detector modules, their readout system and the algorithms used to detect beam incidents are described. Results of the BCM operation with circulating LHC beams and it’s commissioning with first LHC collisions are reported.