Browsing by Author "Gomez, Roman G."

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    Characterization of the Xenon-10 Dark Matter Detector with regard to electric field and light response
    (2007) Gomez, Roman G.; Oberlack, Uwe
    Electrostatic and Monte Carlo Simulations of the Xenon-10 Dark Matter Detector were carried out. Electrostatic simulations led to optimization of the charge sensitive region through proper determination of resistor chain values for the field shaping wires and through maximization of the charge sensitive region by reducing areas of charge loss. These simulations also led to identification of problem regions which would otherwise hindered detector calibration and data analysis. Monte Carlo simulations of the light response for both primary and secondary scintillation light were instrumental in position reconstruction in the gas phase of the detector and in the identification of events occurring inside the problem regions found in the electrostatic simulations. Data comparison with Activated Xenon (131Xe) with its gamma ray feature at 164 keV and isotropic event distribution showed good agreement with simulated data.
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    Simulation and Optimization of ESA Designs for Space Plasma Missions
    (2011) Gomez, Roman G.; Young, David T.
    A novel electrostatic analyzer (ESA) simulation method that differs significantly from traditional methods is presented in this study, the "reverse-fly" simulation method. The simulation process and its applications are discussed in detail. This method is tested by comparing its results to the published test data of three experimental instruments; The Proton Electrostatic Analyzer-High Geometric Factor (PESA-H) instrument on the Wind mission [Lin, et al. 1995], the 2π-Toroidal Analyzer (2πTA) of Young, et al., [1988], and the Hot Plasma Composition Analyzer (HPCA) to be used in the upcoming Magnetospheric Multi-scale (MMS) mission. The strong agreement between simulation and experimental results verifies the accuracy of this technique. Our results reveal detailed properties of ESA response that are not practical to assess using laboratory data. This simulation method then is used to compare the transmission characteristics of five published ESA geometries to efficiently determine the optimal ESA geometry for use in future space missions. We show that the simulation methods described here are an important contribution to instrument design and development techniques and are critical to efficient and accurate verification of instrument performance.