Tracking with Scintillating Fibres

Abstract

At the end of 1987, the upgraded UA2 experiment [1] took its first data at the SPS pp collider. The scintillating fibre detector (SFD) [1–3] forms the outer part of a new detector, which fits inside the central calorimeter and provides tracking and electron identification. Inside the SFD are a cylindrical drift chamber, a layer of silicon pads and a transition radiation detector, which occupies half of the available radial space, leaving very little room for additional tracking and electron identification. As a result, the scintillating fibre detector was chosen as a very compact cylindrical tracking and preshower detector. The success of the construction and of the operation of this first large tracking scintillating fibre detector has stimulated new and already existing developments. After a short description of the SFD properties and performance, several issues and developments relevant to future tracking fibre detectors will be briefly reviewed. A more detailed account of the SFD performance may be found in [4].