Luminosity Measurement at ATLAS with a Scintillating Fiber Tracker

We are reporting about a scintillating fiber tracking detector which is proposed for a precise determination of the absolute luminosity of the CERN LHC at interaction point 1 where the ATLAS experiment is located. The detector needs to track protons elastically scattered under micro-radian angles in direct vicinity to the LHC beam. It is based on square shaped scintillating plastic fibers read out by multi-anode photomultiplier tubes and is housed in Roman Pots. We describe the design and construction of prototype detectors and the results of two beam test experiments carried out at DESY and at CERN. The excellent detector performance established in these tests validates the detector design and supports the feasibility of the proposed challenging method of luminosity measurement. All results from the CERN beam test should be considered as preliminary.