Background and sensitivity simulation of a space based germanium Compton telescope

Author

Graham, B.L. ; Phlips, Bernard F. ; Kurfess, J.D. ; Kroeger, R.A.

Author_Institution

Inst. for Comput. Sci. & Inf., George Mason Univ., Fairfax, VA, USA

fYear

1997

fDate

9-15 Nov 1997

Firstpage

325

Abstract

A Monte Carlo simulation code has been developed that calculates the isotopes produced by spallation and propagates the products of radioactive decays for the purpose of studying activation backgrounds in space based gamma-ray telescopes. This code has been applied to study a Compton telescope consisting of two large arrays of position sensitive germanium detectors. Activation of the germanium by cosmic rays and their secondaries is the major source of background. These simulations quantify the contributions and spectrum of each background component

Keywords

Monte Carlo methods; astronomical telescopes; germanium radiation detectors; position sensitive particle detectors; Monte Carlo simulation code; activation backgrounds; background; cosmic rays; isotopes; position sensitive germanium detectors; radioactive decays; sensitivity simulation; space based Ge Compton telescope; space based gamma-ray telescopes; space based germanium Compton telescope; spallation; Aluminum; Detectors; Energy resolution; Germanium; Isotopes; Laboratories; Monte Carlo methods; Protons; Sensor arrays; Telescopes;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Nuclear Science Symposium, 1997. IEEE

Conference_Location

Albuquerque, NM

ISSN

1082-3654

Print_ISBN

0-7803-4258-5

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/NSSMIC.1997.672595

Filename

672595