Study of the spatial resolution achievable with the BTeV pixel sensors

A Monte Carlo simulation has been developed to predict the spatial resolution of silicon pixel detectors. The results discussed in this paper focus on the unit cell geometry of 50 μm×400 μm, as chosen for BTeV. Effects taken into account include energy deposition fluctuations along the charged particle path, diffusion, magnetic field, and response of the front end electronics. We compare our predictions with measurements from a recent test beam study performed at Fermilab.