In 2001, an upgraded silicon detector system was installed in the CDF II experiment on the Tevatron at Fermilab. The complete system consists of three silicon micro-strip detectors: SVX II with five layers for precision tracking, Layer 00 with one beampipe-mounted layer for vertexing, and two Intermediate Silicon Layers located between SVX II and the main CDF II tracking chamber. Currently all detectors in the system are operating at or near design levels. The performance of the combined silicon system is excellent in the context of CDF tracking algorithms, and the first useful physics results from the innermost Layer 00 detector have been recently documented. Operational and monitoring efforts have also been strengthened to maintain silicon efficiency through the end of Run 2 at the Tevatron.

In 2001, an upgraded silicon detector system was installed in the CDF II experiment on the Tevatron at Fermilab. The complete system consists of three silicon microstrip detectors: SVX II with five layers for precision tracking, Layer 00 with one beampipe-mounted layer for vertexing, and two Intermediate Silicon Layers located between SVX II and the main CDF II tracking chamber. Currently all detectors in the system are operating at or near design levels. The performance of the combined silicon system is excellent in the context of CDF tracking algorithms, and the first useful physics results from the innermost Layer 00 detector have been recently documented. Operational and monitoring efforts have also been strengthened to maintain silicon efficiency through the end of Run 2 at the Tevatron.

The CDF silicon detector is one of the largest silicon detectors in operation. It has a total of 722,432 electronic channels, and it covers a sensor surface area of 6 m{sup 2}. The detector has been operating reliably for five years, and it has recorded 1.5 fb{sup -1} of data. This article discusses experiences of operating such a large, complex system as well as the longevity of the detector.

The CDF Run II silicon detector with its 8 layers of double- and single-sided silicon microstrip sensors and a total 722,432 readout channels is one of the largest silicon detector devices currently in use by a HEP experiment. We report our experience commissioning and operating this complex device during the first 4 years of Run II. As the luminosity delivered by the Tevatron increases, we have observed measurable effects of radiation damage in studies of charge collection and noise versus applied bias voltage at many different integrated luminosities. We discuss these studies and their impact on the expected lifetime of the detector.

A snapshot of the status of the CDF Run II Silicon Detector is presented, with a summary of commissioning issues since the start of Run II, current performance of the detector, and the use of the data in both the trigger and offline reconstruction.

A snapshot of the status of the CDF Run II Silicon Detector dated July 2002 is presented, with a summary of commissioning issues since the start of Run II, current performance of the detector, and the use of the data in both the trigger and offline reconstruction.

In the post era of the Z and W discovery, after the observation of Jets at UA1 and UA2 at CERN, John Ellis visioned at a HEP conference at Lake Tahoe, California in 1983 “To proceed with high energy particle physics, one has to tag the avour of the quarks!” This statement re ects the need for a highly precise tracking device, being able to resolve secondary and tertiary vertices within high-particle densities. Since the d- tance between the primary interaction point and the secondary vertex is proportional tothelifetimeoftheparticipatingparticle,itisanexcellentquantitytoidentifypar- cle avour in a very fast and precise way. In colliding beam experiments this method was applied especially to tag the presence of b quarks within particle jets. It was rst introduced in the DELPHI experiment at LEP but soon followed by all collider - periments to date. The long expected t quark discovery was possible mainly with the help of the CDF silicon vertex tracker, providing the b quark information. In the beginning of the 21st century the new LHC experiments are beginning to take 2 shape. CMS with its 206m of silicon area is perfectly suited to cope with the high luminosity environment. Even larger detectors are envisioned for the far future, like the SiLC project for the International Linear Collider. Silicon sensors matured from small 1in. single-sided devices to large 6in. double-sided, double metal detectors and to 6in. single-sided radiation hard sensors.