ATLAS silicon microstrip tracker operation and performance

The Semi-Conductor Tracker (SCT) is a silicon strip detector and one of the key precision tracking devices of the Inner Detector of the ATLAS experiment at CERN LHC. The SCT is constructed of 4088 silicon detector modules for a total of 6.3 million channels. Each module is designed, constructed and tested to operate as a stand-alone unit, mechanically, electrically, optically and thermally. The modules are mounted into two types of structures: one barrel (4 cylinders) and two end-cap systems (9 disks on each). The current results from the successful operation of the SCT Detector at the LHC and its status after three years of operation will be presented. The operation of the detector including an overview of the main issues encountered is reported. The main emphasis is given to the tracking performance of the SCT and the data quality during the > 2 years of data taking of proton–proton collision data at 7 TeV (and short periods of heavy ion collisions). The SCT has been fully operational throughout all data taking periods, delivering high quality tracking data.