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High-accuracy Geant4 simulation and semi-analytical modeling of nuclear resonance fluorescence

Journal Article · · Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section B, Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms
 [1];  [2];  [2]
  1. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States); University of Michigan
  2. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)

Nuclear resonance fluorescence (NRF) is a photonuclear interaction that enables highly isotope-specific measurements in both pure and applied physics scenarios. High-accuracy design and analysis of NRF measurements in complex geometries is aided by Monte Carlo simulations of photon physics and transport, motivating Jordan and Warren (2007) to develop the G4NRF codebase for NRF simulation in Geant4. In this work, we enhance the physics accuracy of the G4NRF code and perform improved benchmarking simulations. The NRF cross section calculation in G4NRF, previously a Gaussian approximation, has been replaced with a full numerical integration for improved accuracy in thick-target scenarios. A high-accuracy semi-analytical model of expected NRF count rates in a typical NRF measurement is then constructed and compared against G4NRF simulations for both simple homogeneous and more complex heterogeneous geometries. Furthermore, agreement between rates predicted by the semi-analytical model and G4NRF simulation is found at a level of ~1% in simple test cases and ~3% in more realistic scenarios, improving upon the ~20% level of the initial benchmarking study and establishing a highly-accurate NRF framework for Geant4.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of Nonproliferation and Verification Research and Development (NA-22)
Grant/Contract Number:
NA0002534
OSTI ID:
1525295
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1702582
OSTI ID: 1572784
Journal Information:
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section B, Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, Journal Name: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section B, Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms Journal Issue: C Vol. 433; ISSN 0168-583X
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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