DRiFT current mode, trigger settings and flexible detector specifications applied to scintillator arrays

• Published in: Radiation physics and chemistry (Oxford, England : 1993) England : 1993), 2024-10, Vol.223, p.111959, Article 111959
• Main Authors: Andrews, M.T., Mullen, A.D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Current mode; Detector response; DRiFT; MCNP; RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY; Scintillators
• ISSN: 0969-806X; 1879-0895
• DOI: 10.1016/j.radphyschem.2024.111959

MCNP radiation transport output is post-processed by DRiFT, a Detector Response Function Toolkit to simulate detailed nuclear instrumentation response. DRiFT can be used to assess the performance and potential limitations of scintillator, gas, and semiconductor detectors under a variety of simulated conditions not easily achievable in a laboratory setting. This work describes new updates in DRiFT for scintillator simulations which focus on the capability to simulate scintillators in current mode, an expansion of trigger options, and the ability to customize individual detector properties in a simulation. These improvements are designed to facilitate the ability to model large arrays of scintillator detectors with higher fidelity than was previously possible and are demonstrated in three examples. The first shows the difference between operating DRiFT in current and pulse mode. In the second example, which is intended to demonstrate deviations in individual detector performance, each detector has properties (PMT gain, optical transport, scintillation yield, etc.) that vary between detectors and are specified in DRiFT. A final example examines how DRiFT could be used to optimize digitizer settings in high rate measurements with split signals using the new common trigger option. •The ability to simulate current mode experiments has been implemented in DRriFT.•New features include common triggers and the ability to assign individual scintillator, PMT, and digitizer properties.•New features are demonstrated in several examples with scintillator arrays.