The CMS silicon strip detector—mechanical structure and alignment system

The CMS all-silicon tracker will cover a total area of 210 m2 with 15 232 detector modules. It will be by far the largest silicon strip detector ever built. It consists of 10 barrel layers and 2×9 end cap layers inside a volume of about 5.6 m length and 2.4 m radius. One of the biggest challenges in constructing and building the CMS silicon strip detector is its operation temperature at −20°C. This article will focus on the mechanical structure and on the tracker alignment system.