Tracking with heavily irradiated silicon detectors operated at cryogenic temperatures

In this work we show that a heavily irradiated double-sided silicon microstrip detector recovers its performance when operated at cryogenic temperatures. A DELPHI microstrip detector, irradiated to a fluence of /spl sim/4/spl times/10/sup 14/ p/cm/sup 2/, no longer operational at room temperature, cannot be distinguished from a non-irradiated one when operated at T<120 K. Besides confirming the previously observed 'Lazarus effect' in single diodes, these results establish, for the first time, the possibility of using standard silicon detectors for tracking applications in extremely demanding radiation environments.