Frontier measurements in high-energy heavy-ion collision experiments re- quire challenging developments for detector technologies. For instance, the CERN LHC (Large Hadron Collider) plans of eventually reaching an interac- tion rate of 50 kHz for Pb-Pb collisions require the upgrade of the two ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) main tracking devices, namely the ITS (In- ner Tracking System) and the TPC (Time Projection Chamber). The ALICE ITS upgrade is primarily focused on improving the performance for detection of heavy-flavor hadrons, and of the thermal photons and low-mass dileptons emitted by the QGP (Quark Gluon Plasma). In order to fulfill such physics programs, the current silicon detectors will be fully replaced with a new, high- resolution, multi-layered, low-material, 12.5 GigaPixel system based on CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) MAPS (Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors) technology, which is expected to enhance vertexing and tracking at low transverse momenta (pT ), radiation hardness and read-out capabilities. This work presents an overview of MAPS technologies for high-energy experiments, with emphasis on the ITS upgrade case.

Keywords: Silicon pixel detectors; MAPS; ITS; High-Energy Heavy-Ion Collisions.