MONTE-CARLO SIMULATION OF INDUCED RADIOACTIVE BACKGROUND IN GAMMA-RAYDETECTOR MATERIALS

Induced activation in detector materials constitutes a major source or background for space-borne gamma-ray instruments. Future detector sys tems will utilise a variety of background reduction techniques and nov el detector materials to maximise signal-to-noise and resolution of th e measurements taken, and assessment of the merits of different design s will require detailed attention to a wide range of physical processe s. The Integrated Radiation Transport Suite (IRTS) has been applied to simulate the effects of spacecraft shielding against Van Alien and ga lactic cosmic-ray protons, the production of secondary hadrons, and in duced radioactivity in and the response of gamma-ray detector material s. This paper discusses the physics requirements for these simulations , and the degree of success of The models through comparisons with exp erimental data obtained from Space Shuttle flights and proton-beam irr adiation of detector materials.