The International Linear Collider (ILC) is proposed as the next major particle physics facility, intended to complement the Large Hadron Collider at CERN and shed more light on recent discoveries such as the Higgs boson. The Silicon Detector (SiD) is being designed to exploit the physics discovery potential of the high-energy electron–positron collisions this facility will provide. SiD is a multi-purpose precision detector, optimized for a broad range of physics processes, but designed to be robust and affordable.

The detector uses multiple layers of lightweight, high-precision silicon sensors to record the trajectories of charged particles produced by the collider. These are surrounded by a hermetic arrangement of detectors called calorimeters, which measure the energy of both charged and neutral particles. The signals caused by electromagnetic particles, such as electrons and photons, are detected with highly segmented silicon sensors, providing precise measurements of both location and energy. Enclosing this are detectors which will measure the signals created by hadronic particles, such as protons, neutrons and pions, and an outer shell to identify penetrating muons. The highly granular readout provided by these imaging calorimeters, combined with the superb momentum resolution of the tracking system, is intended to allow the reconstruction and identification of individual particles. This will provide the precision necessary to fully understand the detailed properties of the Higgs boson.

SLAC plays a significant role in the design of the Silicon Detector. Detailed simulations of the physics processes and the overall detector performance are carried out by the Linear Collider Detector Physics and Detectors group. Understanding the interplay between the ILC and SiD is the role of the Machine-Detector Interface group. Design of the silicon sensors and readout chips used in both the tracking systems and calorimeters is also underway at SLAC.

More information on SiD can be found on the Silicon Detector website.

Information about the ILC can be found on the Linear Collider Collaboration website.

For more information about SLAC's involvement in SiD, please contact Norman Graf.