Regular Article

Overview of PHITS Ver.3.34 with particular focus on track-structure calculation

¹ Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Shirakata 2-4, Tokai, Ibaraki, Japan
² Hokkaido University, Faculty of Health Sciences, N-12-W-5, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
³ Current affiliation: Zap energy, Everett, Washington, USA
⁴ Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Høgskulen på Vestlandet, Postbox 7030, 5020 Bergen, Norway
⁵ Radiation Science Center, High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, Ibaraki, Japan
⁶ Kyushu University, Department of Applied Quantum Physics and Nuclear Engineering, Fukuoka, Japan
⁷ Department of Radiation Physics, Technische Universität Wien, Atominstitut, Vienna, Austria
⁸ Research Organization for Information Science and Technology, Shirakata 2-4, Tokai, Ibaraki, Japan

^* e-mail: ogawa.tatsuhiko@jaea.go.jp

Received: 11 June 2024
Received in final form: 25 July 2024
Accepted: 27 August 2024
Published online: 1 November 2024

Abstract

This paper presents the latest updates on PHITS, a versatile radiation transport code, focusing specifically on track-structure models. Track structure calculations are methods used to simulate the movement of charged particles while explicitly considering each atomic reaction. Initially developed for radiation biology, these calculation methods aimed to analyze the radiation-induced damage to DNA and chromosomes. Several track-structure calculation models, including PHITS-ETS, PHITS-ETS for Si, PHITS-KURBUC, ETSART, and ITSART, have been developed and implemented for PHITS. These models allow users to study the behavior of various particles at the nano-scale across a wide range of materials. Furthermore, potential applications of track-structure calculations have also been proposed so far. This collection of track-structure calculation models, which encompasses diverse conditions, opens up new avenues for research in the field of radiation effects.