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Abstract

The Belle II experiment at the super KEK B-factory (SuperKEKB) in Tsukuba, Japan, has been collecting e+e− collision data since March 2019. Operating at a record-breaking luminosity of up to 4.7×1034 cm−2s−1, data corresponding to 424 fb−1 has since been recorded. The Belle II VerteX Detector (VXD) is central to the Belle II detector and its physics program and plays a crucial role in reconstructing precise primary and decay vertices. It consists of the outer 4-layer Silicon Vertex Detector (SVD) using double sided silicon strips and the inner two-layer PiXel Detector (PXD) based on the Depleted P-channel Field Effect Transistor (DePFET) technology. The PXD DePFET structure combines signal generation and amplification within pixels with a minimum pitch of (50×55) μm2. A high gain and a high signal-to-noise ratio allow thinning the pixels to 75 μm while retaining a high pixel hit efficiency of about 99%. As a consequence, also the material budget of the full detector is kept low at ≈0.21%XX0 per layer in the acceptance region. This also includes contributions from the control, Analog-to-Digital
Converter (ADC), and data processing Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) as well as from cooling and support structures. This article will present the experience gained from four years of operating PXD; the first full scale detector employing the DePFET technology in High Energy Physics. Overall, the PXD has met the expectations. Operating in the intense SuperKEKB environment poses many challenges that will also be discussed. The current PXD system remains incomplete with only 20 out of 40 modules having been installed. A full replacement has been constructed and is currently in its final testing stage before it will be installed into Belle II during the ongoing long shutdown that will last throughout 2023.