A study of the cosmic-ray muon signature at sea level in NaI(Tl) scintillation detectors

The principle of the proposed method is based on a simple and efficient way to estimate the muon energy deposition in a cylindrical sensor. Muon initial energy is randomly sampled from experimental distributions and the traveled distance through the scintillator volume is assessed from a Monte-Carlo model in cylindrical coordinates. Energy deposition is estimated by solving Bethe-Block formula thanks to digital Euler approximation. This model has been experimentally tested in our laboratory using NaI(Tl) scintillator apparatus. Results from this comparison show good agreement and confirm the potential of the model. Sources of discrepancy are emphasized, while explaining peak shift between experimental results and theoretical calculations.