Alignment of the CMS Preshower detector

Abstract

The Preshower detector, as part of the CMS endcap electromagnetic calorimeter, is designed to identify π0 in the endcaps within a fiducial region 1.653<|η|<2.6. It is based on 4288 silicon sensors, each with active area 61×61mm2 segmented into 32 strips with 1.9 mm pitch. For minimum ionizing particles the intrinsic spatial precision is 17.6mm parallel to the strip and 550μm perpendicular to the strips. Exploiting its spatial resolution relies upon excellent alignment with the neighboring detectors, especially the Tracker.The alignment is based on the extrapolation of tracks from the Tracker to the Preshower and gives an alignment precision of a few millimeters for translation and a few milliradians for rotation. The method for Preshower alignment is discussed and the results of the alignment with respect to the Tracker, using LHC collision data collected by CMS in 2011, are given.