TY - JOUR
T1 - Monte Carlo investigation of a high-efficiency, two-plane Compton camera for long-range localization of radioactive materials
AU - Poitrasson-Rivière, Alexis
AU - Maestas, Ben A.
AU - Hamel, Michael C.
AU - Clarke, Shaun D.
AU - Flaska, Marek
AU - Pozzi, Sara A.
AU - Pausch, Guntram
AU - Herbach, Claus Michael
AU - Gueorguiev, Andrey
AU - Ohmes, Martin F.
AU - Stein, Juergen
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved.
PY - 2015/5
Y1 - 2015/5
N2 - Compton cameras have become an instrument of interest for long-range localization of radioactive materials in nuclear-nonproliferation applications. In this work, a specialized simulation tool was developed for the optimization of a Compton camera through realistic Monte Carlo simulations. This tool can be used for Compton cameras with different geometries. The MCNPX-PoliMi code was used to simulate Compton scatters and photoelectric absorptions in the camera's detectors. The imaging capability is derived from the physics of Compton scattering and the full-energy information obtained in photoelectric absorptions. The simulated system is a 1 × 1 m2 Compton camera consisting of two planar arrays of photon detectors. Several scintillators were evaluated: LaBr3, CaF2, and NaI(Tl) (all inorganic scintillators), and C9H10 (plastic organic scintillator). The investigation was carried out with a 137Cs source. A minimum detectable activity (MDA) was defined and used to assess the performance of cameras based on different detectors. The simulation results show that C9H10 is a reliable, low-cost, scatter-plane material, increasing the MDA by ∼0.2 mCi when compared to a CaF2 scatter plane. On the other hand, the intrinsic background of LaBr3 undermines its above-average energy resolution as the MDA increased by ∼0.5 mCi when compared to a NaI(Tl) absorption plane.
AB - Compton cameras have become an instrument of interest for long-range localization of radioactive materials in nuclear-nonproliferation applications. In this work, a specialized simulation tool was developed for the optimization of a Compton camera through realistic Monte Carlo simulations. This tool can be used for Compton cameras with different geometries. The MCNPX-PoliMi code was used to simulate Compton scatters and photoelectric absorptions in the camera's detectors. The imaging capability is derived from the physics of Compton scattering and the full-energy information obtained in photoelectric absorptions. The simulated system is a 1 × 1 m2 Compton camera consisting of two planar arrays of photon detectors. Several scintillators were evaluated: LaBr3, CaF2, and NaI(Tl) (all inorganic scintillators), and C9H10 (plastic organic scintillator). The investigation was carried out with a 137Cs source. A minimum detectable activity (MDA) was defined and used to assess the performance of cameras based on different detectors. The simulation results show that C9H10 is a reliable, low-cost, scatter-plane material, increasing the MDA by ∼0.2 mCi when compared to a CaF2 scatter plane. On the other hand, the intrinsic background of LaBr3 undermines its above-average energy resolution as the MDA increased by ∼0.5 mCi when compared to a NaI(Tl) absorption plane.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84922569443&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84922569443&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.pnucene.2015.01.009
DO - 10.1016/j.pnucene.2015.01.009
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84922569443
SN - 0149-1970
VL - 81
SP - 127
EP - 133
JO - Progress in Nuclear Energy
JF - Progress in Nuclear Energy
ER -