Applications of MCSHAPE and MCSHAPE3D to polarization and imaging experiments, and to detector response computations

MCSHAPE is a Monte Carlo code which can simulate the diffusion of photons with arbitrary polarization state and has the unique feature of describing the evolution of the polarization state along the interactions with the atoms. The model is derived from the so called 'vector' transport equation [1]. The code accurately simulates the propagation of photons in heterogeneous media originating from either polarized (i.e., synchrotron) or unpolarized sources, such as X-ray tubes. The 3D version of the code [2] is based on a sample modeling using a 3D regular grid of cubic voxels. At each voxel, the local composition is specified by giving the number of chemical elements, their weight fractions, the atomic characteristics of each element, the total mass attenuation coefficient and the density. Photoelectric effect, Rayleigh and Compton scattering, the three most important interaction types for photons in the considered energy range (1-1000 keV), are included in the simulation with state-of-art extent of detail. A unique algorithm is used to describe the Compton profile which avoids the low energy bias present in other MC codes [3]. In this paper we discus some applications of the 1D and 3D versions of MCSHAPE. In first place, the code is used to analyze a polarization dependent experiment. Then, 1D, 2D and 3D imaging experiments are simulated. Finally, the influence of polarization and multiple scattering on the response function for solid state detectors is discussed.