CMS Silicon Pixel Detector Calibration

The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) pixel group at Cornell University is building a silicon pixel detector test station that will model the detection and data acquisition system designed for the CMS experiment at the Large Hardron Collider (LHC) at CERN. With parts of the apparatus already functional, we have begun to understand and optimize the detector’s programmable settings, called DACs, that tune its performance. The success of these optimizations has been quantified by performing various calibrations, also being developed here, that will also be used at the LHC to ensure that the pixel detector is working properly and taking the most accurate data possible.