The L3 vertex detector: design and performance

The L3 vertex detector is comprised of the time expansion chamber (TEC), the Z-chamber and a layer of plastic scintillating fibers. The TEC has shown a high spatial resolution and an excellent multi-track reconstruction capability at LEP luminosity. The Z-chamber provides information about the z-coordinates of the tracks and the fibers are used for calibrating the drift velocity with a high precision. A description of the L3 vertex detector, its readout and data acquisition and its performance during the 1990 LEP running period is presented in this paper.