Forward physics at PHENIX with precision silicon tracking

The PHENIX experiment at RHIC has developed and installed a new silicon detector, the Forward Silicon Vertex Tracker (FVTX), to provide precise tracking at forward and backward rapidity ($1.2<\vert y\vert <2.2)$. The FVTX consists of four layers of silicon mini-strip sensors with a 75 micron pitch in the radial direction, and is located in front of the existing PHENIX muon arms. By determining muon tracks with high precision before any interactions occur in the hadron absorber, the FVTX will enhance the mass resolution of dimuon resonance measurements as well as allow separation of decay muons from charm and bottom hadrons produced in heavy ion collisions. In this talk, the design and capabilities of the FVTX will be discussed, along with the analysis status of FVTX data.