Research on Detection Performance of NaI(Tl) Detector Based on Monte Carlo Method

The NaI(TI) detector is highly favored in gamma radiation detection and widely applied in fields such as environmental radiation monitoring, nuclear medicine, and laboratory gamma-ray spectroscopy. Its detection performance determines the results of quantitative gamma-ray detection, making it a crucial indicator in detector design and development. This study employs the Monte Carlo method and utilizes TopMC 1.0 software to establish a NaI(TI) detector model. First, the effects of crystal size, ray energy, cladding thickness, and distance on the detector’s detection efficiency were investigated. Subsequently, the energy resolution and peak-to-total ratio of the detector were simulated and calculated, with comparisons made to experimental values. The results indicate that all three detection efficiencies of the NaI(TI) detector are positively correlated with crystal size and exhibit an initial increase followed by a decrease with rising gamma-ray energy. Both the absolute detection efficiency and full-energy peak detection efficiency first increase and then decrease with increasing cladding thickness, while showing a negative correlation with detection distance. The intrinsic detection efficiency is almost unaffected by cladding thickness and initially rises before declining with increasing detection distance. The simulated values of energy resolution closely match experimental values, improving with higher gamma-ray energy. The deviation between simulated and experimental values for different source peak-to-total ratios remains within 6.25%, verifying the model’s reliability and the accuracy of simulation data. These findings provide valuable references and guidance for optimizing detection performance, conducting source-free efficiency calibration, and structural design of NaI(TI) detectors.