The LHCb Silicon Tracker: Running experience

The LHCb Silicon Tracker is part of the main tracking system of the LHCb detector at the LHC. It measures very precisely the particle trajectories coming from the interaction point in the region of high occupancies around the beam axis. It covers the full acceptance angle in front of the dipole magnet in the Tracker Turicensis station and the innermost part around the beam axis in the three Inner Tracker stations downstream of the magnet. The Silicon Tracker covers a sensitive area of 12 m2 using silicon micro-strip sensors with very long readout strips. We report on running experience for the experiment. Focussing on electronic and hardware issues we describe some of the lessons learned and pitfalls encountered after three years of successful operation