Performance-Optimization Studies for the CLIC Vertex Detector

The Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) is a mutli-TeV linear e+e- collider currently under development at CERN. In the post-LHC era, CLIC will allow to explore a great number of searches for New Physics such as the precise measurements of the Higgs boson. In this master thesis, we mainly focus on the development and the improvement of the vertex detector. The vertex detector requires excellent spatial resolution, low mass, geometrical coverage down to low polar angles, high rate readout for the sensors and new cooling technologies for heat removal. Considering such requirements, the CLIC vertex detector technology is far more advanced in comparison to the technologies currently used in particle physics. This project consists of two main parts. In the first part, we study the vertex detector and optimize its geometry for the use of airflow cooling techniques and also for flavor tagging. In the second part, we implement a decoder which can respect the timing constraints for the CLICpix chip, a silicon pixel detector developed for the CLIC vertex detector.