Simulation of a low-background proton detector for studying low-energy resonances relevant in thermonuclear reactions

TL;DR

This paper presents the development and simulation of a low-background gaseous proton detector designed to measure low-energy charged particles, crucial for nuclear astrophysics, with minimized beta background interference.

Contribution

It introduces a novel gaseous detector system and a detailed Geant4-based simulation tool for studying low-energy resonances in thermonuclear reactions.

Findings

Reduced beta background sensitivity down to 150 keV

High efficiency for detecting protons and alphas

Effective simulation framework for detector design

Abstract

A new detector is being developed at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) to measure low energy charged-particles from beta-delayed particle emission. These low energy particles are very important for nuclear astrophysics studies. The use of a gaseous system instead of a solid state detector decreases the sensitivity to betas while keeping high efficiency for higher mass charged particles like protons or alphas. This low sensitivity to betas minimizes their contribution to the background down to 150 keV. A detailed simulation tool based on \textsc{Geant4} has been developed for this future detector.