Benchmarking the Geant4 full system simulation of an associated alpha-particle detector for use in a D-T neutron generator.

The position-sensitive alpha-particle detector used to provide the starting time and initial direction of D-T neutrons in a fast-neutron imaging system was simulated with a Geant4-based Monte Carlo program. The whole detector system, which consists of a YAP:Ce scintillator, a fiber-optic faceplate, a light guide, and a position-sensitive photo-multiplier tube (PSPMT), was modeled, starting with incident D-T alphas. The scintillation photons, whose starting time follows the distribution of a scintillation decay curve, were produced and emitted uniformly into a solid angle of 4π along the track segments of the alpha and its secondaries. Through tracking all photons and taking into account the quantum efficiency of the photocathode, the number of photoelectrons and their time and position distributions were obtained. Using a four-corner data reconstruction formula, the flood images of the alpha detector with and without optical grease between the YAP scintillator and the fiber-optic faceplate were obtained, which show agreement with the experimental results. The reconstructed position uncertainties of incident alpha particles for both cases are 1.198 mm and 0.998 mm respectively across the sensitive area of the detector. Simulation results also show that comparing with other faceplates composed of 500 μm, 300 μm, and 100 μm fibers, the 10-μm-fiber faceplate is the best choice to build the detector for better position performance. In addition, the study of the background originating inside the D-T generator suggests that for 500-μm-thick YAP:Ce coated with 1-μm-thick aluminum, and very good signal-to-noise ratio can be expected through application of a simple threshold.