The ATLAS inner detector silicon tracker

The ATLAS experiment is proposed as a general purpose detector for exploring the high energy regime at the LHC proton-proton collider. The detector must be sensitive to signatures requiring measurements of muons, electrons, gammas, jets and missing transverse momentum. The Inner Detector will consist of a combination of discreet precision tracking layers and continuous tracking layers of straw drift tubes. It is required to provide precision momentum measurements of leptons together with electron and photon identification up to the highest momentum. It will also provide τ- and b-tagging capabilities and at lower luminosities will be capable of efficient b-decay identification and reconstruction. This paper gives an overview of the role and status of the silicon tracking detectors proposed for the ATLAS Inner Detector.