ATLAS Silicon Microstrip Tracker Operation and Performance

The Semi-Conductor Tracker (SCT) is a silicon strip detector and one of the key precision tracking devices in the Inner Detector of the ATLAS experiment at CERN LHC. The SCT is constructed of 4088 silicon detector modules for a total of 6.3 million strips. Each module is designed, constructed and tested to operate as a stand-alone unit, mechanically, electrically, optically and thermally. The modules are mounted into two types of structures: one barrel (4 cylinders) and two end-cap systems (9 disks on each end of the barrel). In the talk the current results from the successful operation of the SCT Detector at the LHC and its status after three years of operation will be presented. We will report on the operation of the detector including an overview of the issues we encountered and the observation of significant increases in leakage currents (as expected) from bulk damage due to non-ionising radiation. The main emphasis will be given to the tracking performance of the SCT and the data quality during the >2 years of data taking of proton-proton collision data at 7 TeV (and short periods of heavy ion collisions). The SCT has been fully operational throughout all data taking periods, delivering high quality tracking data. The SCT running experience will then be used to extract valuable lessons for future silicon strip detector projects.