The CDF silicon detector upgrade and performance

The CDF silicon tracking and vertexing system for Run2a of the Tevatron consists of eight layers, arranged in cylinders, spanning radii from 1.35 to 28 cm, and lengths from 90 cm to nearly 2 m for a total of 6 m2 of silicon and 722,000 readout channels. This article will cover the last phase of detector assembly as well as the internal alignment of the subdetectors. The installation of the silicon into the main CDF detector, its commissioning and data taking will be discussed. First results will show signal to noise and charge collection of the ladders as well as the global alignment of the CDF drift chamber and the silicon detector with respect to each other and to the beam.