Preparing ATLAS pixels for the high rate and radiation environment of the HL-LHC

Abstract: Silicon pixel detectors are at the core of the current and planned upgrade of the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).  As the closest detector component to the interaction point, these detectors will be subjected to a significant amount of radiation over their lifetime and must be able to cope with an enormous data rate.  I’ll pick a few stories to highlight new results on sensor and readout chip radiation damage measurements and simulations as well as studies for optimizing our usage of the limited readout bandwidth.  We have an interesting opportunity now to use simulation studies, combined with validation in testbeam and collision data, to make design choices that best utilize our detector for the exciting dataset we will collect at the end of the LHC and at the high-luminosity upgrade.  These choices have serious implications for the reach of new physics searches and the precision of future measurements.