Benchmarking of the PHITS simulation code using neutron activation experiments for reliable calculations of neutron fields

Abstract In this study, experimental results from neutron activation of gold and indium foils are compared with the activation simulated using PHITS and PHITS-DCHAIN codes. The aim was to evaluate the accuracy of these simulation methods for predicting the amount of induced activity in such foils. Neutron activation experiments were carried out using a 10 Ci AmBe source at the University of Applied Sciences Aachen in Germany. Activities were determined using a modern BEGe detector by measuring the γ-ray spectra of decaying 198 Au and 116m In. In the simulation, two methods were used to extract the activities: a direct flux analysis and a more detailed DCHAIN calculation. Generally, very good agreement of the activities within 15% is observed, which shows the reliable nuclear physics input and neutron transport calculation of the PHITS code for these kinds of experiments.