The alpha magnetic spectrometer silicon tracker: Performance results with protons and helium nuclei

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer is designed for a long duration measurement of the cosmic-ray spectra at an altitude of 400 km. The particle rigidity and specific energy loss are measured by a silicon tracker located in a 0.8 T field. Ground results for the position resolution, detection efficiency and charge determination for singly and doubly charged relativistic particles are presented and discussed in the context of the spaceborne detector.