The LHCb Vertex Locator (VELO) Pixel Detector Upgrade

The LHCb experiment is designed to perform high-precision measurements of CP violation and the decays of beauty and charm hadrons at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. There is a planned upgrade during Long Shutdown 2 (LS2), expected in 2019, which will allow the detector to run at higher luminosities by transforming the entire readout to a trigger-less system. This will include a substantial upgrade of the Vertex Locator (VELO), the silicon tracker that surrounds the LHCb interaction region. The VELO is moving from silicon strip technology to hybrid pixel sensors, where silicon sensors are bonded to VeloPix ASICs. Sensor prototypes have undergone rigorous testing using the Timepix3 Telescope at the SPS, CERN. The main components of the upgrade are summarised and testbeam results presented.