Status and prospects of the LHCb Vertex Locator

The Vertex Locator of the LHCb experiment is a dedicated subdetector for the reconstruction of primary and secondary vertices in b-hadron decays. The vertex detector features two halves with 21 modules each, mounted on retractable bases. Each module consists of two half-disk silicon micro-strip sensors measuring hits in R and $\Phi$ coordinates. The strip pitch ranges from 40 to about 100 $\mu$m. A vacuum boy with a 300 $\mu$m thick aluminium foil shields the sensors from the wakefields of the proton beams which are passing at a distance of 8 mm from the active area of the sensors. Because of the harsh non-uniform radiation environment we opted for n-on-n strips in diffusion oxygenated float zone silicon. The current status of the vertex detector, which has recently entered the commissioning phase, will be discussed. Given the limited lifetime of the detector due to the radiation environment, developments for a detector replacement with n-on-p type modules have already started. Possible upgrade scenarios for the vertex detector will also be discussed in view of the luminosity upgrade which is currently being considered for the LHCb experiment. The options include novel detector technologies and geometries.