Status of the Belle SVD detector

Abstract The Belle spectrometer was designed for studies of B meson decays at an asymmetric e + e − collider operating at the ϒ(4S) resonance. One of its crucial components, a silicon vertex detector (SVD), is placed just outside a cylindrical beryllium beam-pipe. After a year of Belle operation an upgraded version of SVD was installed during the regular summer shut-down. The new SVD follows the same design, with a few important improvements. Rad-soft readout electronics was replaced by rad-tolerant one, allowing for longer lifetime of the detector. A new radiation and temperature monitoring system was developed and implemented. A saw-shaped inner surface was introduced in the beam-pipe to prevent potential synchrotron radiation damage. The upgraded detector started operating successfully in October 2000.