Determination of Energy and Charge Deposition Profiles in Elemental Slabs From an Isotropically Equivalent Electron Source Using Monte Carlo Simulations

Monte Carlo simulations using the MCNP5 transport code have been made for electrons with 10.0 keV to 5.0 MeV kinetic energies incident on thick slabs of elemental materials with atomic numbers in the range 6–79. An electron point source near the surface of the target slab was used to simulate isotropic incidence, allowing for the inclusion of backscatter and secondary-electron emissions in the simulation. Thus, the results should be uniquely useful for the modeling of deep-dielectric charging in spacecraft over a large range of energies and materials. Due to the minimum electron energy cutoff of MCNP5, accuracy of the simulations decreases at the lowest incident energies. A path has been identified for developing an algorithm that can quickly reproduce and interpolate between the Monte Carlo results for both incident energies and target materials in the ranges studied. Such an algorithm should prove useful to modelers of deep-dielectric charging in realistic spacecraft environments.