Commissioning and Installation of the New small-Diameter Muon Drift Tube (sMDT) Detectors for the Phase-I Upgrade of the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer

The Monitored Drift Tubes, as a part of the ATLAS muon spectrometer, are precision drift chambers designed to provide excellent spatial resolution and high tracking efficiency independent of the track angle. Through the life of the LHC and ATLAS experiment, this detector has already demonstrated that they provide precise tracking over large areas. The aim of the ATLAS muon spectrometer upgrade is to increase the muon trigger efficiency, precise muon momentum measurement and to improve the rate capability of the muon system in the high-background regions during the High-Luminosity LHC runs. To meet these requirements, the proposed solution is based on the small (15 mm) diameter Muon Drift Tube chamber (sMDT) technology. The new detector provides about an order of magnitude higher rate capability and allows for the installation of additional new triplet Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs) trigger detectors in the barrel inner layer of the muon system. A pilot project for the barrel inner layer upgrade is underway during the 2019/21 LHC shutdown. For this reason, the Max-Planck-Institut für Physik in Munich has built 16 sMDT chambers, each will cover an area of about 2.5 m
²
. To ensure their proper operation in the experiment, the sMDT detectors have to pass a set of stringent tests both at the production site and after their delivery at CERN. After their installation in the ATLAS muon spectrometer, the muon stations are further tested and commissioned with cosmic rays. The author will describe the detector design, the quality assurance and certification path, as well as will present the experience with the chamber tests, the integration procedure and installation of the muon stations in the ATLAS experiment.