The Belle silicon vertex detector: present performance and upgrade plans

Abstract

The Belle detector has been operating at the KEKB colliding beam B-factory since 1999. It is a general purpose detector optimized to measure decay products of BB̄ pairs created at the Y(4S) resonance. The vertexing function provided by the Silicon Vertex Detector (SVD) is crucial for accurate B-decay measurements, particularly in searching for asymmetries in decay times of B̄ and B mesons, the essence of CP violation being studied at Belle. High radiation levels during early KEKB running soon rendered "SVD1.0" inoperable. It was replaced by another of the same design, built in parallel with the installation of SVD1.0. Improvement of the beam operating conditions allowed "SVD1.1" to provide v..