Thermoluminescence glow curves and optical stimulated luminescence of undoped alpha-Al2O3 crystals

The characteristics of thermoluminescence (TL) and optical stimulated luminescence (OSL) in undoped alpha-Al2O3 single crystals were studied. The TL glow curves of the crystal samples irradiated at various dose levels were measured by Ris? TL/OSL-DA-15B/C reader with U-340 or 7-59 filters at different heating rates. The glow peaks measured with U-340 at approximately 210 degrees C of the undoped alpha-Al2O3 can be well fitted by first-order kinetic equation whereas the glow peaks measured with 7-59 filters are a composite of two first-order glow peaks. It indicates that the TL glow curves are dependent upon the filter used in the reader that is related to the emission spectra of luminescence materials. The OSL were also measured and fitted by two exponential functions to get the luminescence intensities. The TL and OSL dose responses of the undoped alpha-Al2O3 crystal were obtained in the dose range of 0.12-248 Gy and fitted by the composite action dose-response function to get nonlinear characteristic parameters. The TL and OSL dose responses are linear-sublinear.     

Correlation of phase transition with the change in TL characteristics in CaSO4:Dy phosphor--effect of thermal treatment

The study is aimed at optimising the glow curve structure of CaSO4:Dy phosphor for dosimetric purpose and also to understand the observed changes owing to thermal treatment in the thermoluminescence (TL) sensitivity and glow curve structure. The reversible changes in the intensities of the lower temperature satellite peak and the main dosimetric glow peak with temperature of thermal treatment in the temperature range 400-700 degrees C indicates the interconversion of defect complexes responsible for the glow peaks in CaSO4:Dy. Phosphor samples subjected to thermal treatment in temperature range beyond 800 degrees C, showed irreversible changes in the intensities of the lower temperature and dosimetric peaks. The changes in TL characteristics of the phosphor for thermal treatments >800 degrees C are attributed to the partial phase transition in the phosphor as confirmed by the XRD and TG/DTA analysis of the phosphor.     

Thermoluminescence centres created selectively in MgO crystals by fast neutrons

A possibility of using the thermoluminescent detection of collision-created interstitial centres in MgO by the TL peak at 700 K, arising at the radiative recombination of anion interstitials with F+ centres, for the selective detection of fast neutrons in mixed neutron-gamma fields, is examined. Selectivity and sensitivity of such a detector are discussed. For the present time, the sensitivity of the thermoluminescent detection of anion interstitials created by neutron irradiation is comparable to that of the EPR detection of F+ centres, the main limitations of the thermoluminescence method being connected with the background thermoluminescence and absence of suitable luminescence centres in this temperature region, when undoped and untreated MgO crystals are used. Possible ways to overcome these shortcomings are discussed.     

Rare earth-doped nanocrystalline MgF2: Synthesis,luminescence and thermoluminescence

The radioluminescence (RL) and thermoluminescence (TL) activation of MgF₂ through the incorporation of rare earths is investigated in this work. These materials were obtained by ligand-free solution precipitation and calcination at 500 °C in air, and Ce, Eu and Tb were incorporated at the 1 mol% level. RL results of doped and undoped materials seem to indicate that the incorporation of rare earths creates effective luminescence centers, which is accompanied by an increase in the TL signal intensity in comparison with the undoped material. In particular, RL emission of MgF₂:Ce is reported to be centered at 325 nm. The traps associated with the TL signal were found to be unstable under exposure to room light, suggesting potential for applications involving optically stimulated luminescence.     

Correlation between thermoluminescence and mechanoluminescence of gamma-irradiated Dy activated potassium and magnesium mixed sulphate

Thermoluminescene (TL) and mechanoluminescence (ML) properties of gamma-irradiated Dy activated potassium and magnesium mixed sulphate have been studied. (K2Mg2:Dy) (SO4)3 samples having different concentrations of Dy were prepared by solid-state diffusion method. Two distinct peaks, the first approximately 130 degrees C and the second approximately 273 degrees C, are observed in the TL glow curve. It is also observed that TL intensities of both peaks decrease when TL glow curves were recorded after deforming the irradiated samples. Only one peak is observed in the ML intensity vs. time curve and the ML intensity decreases markedly with the post-irradiation annealing (to remove 130 degrees C TL peak) of the sample. Both ML and TL intensities have been observed optimum for 1 mol% of Dy in the mixed sulphate system. It is suggested that the recombination of electrons with the free radicals (anion radicals produced by gamma irradiation) released from the traps during the thermal or mechanical excitation is responsible for luminescence in this system.     

Thermoluminescence properties of γ-irradiated KCaSO<Subscript>4</Subscript>Cl: X (X = Ce,Dy, Mn or Pb)

A new phosphor KCaSO₄Cl is very interesting for thermoluminescent properties. In this article, we present results concerning the main dosimetric properties of KCaSO₄Cl activated by Ce, Dy, Mn, and Pb at various concentrations. Polycrystalline KCaSO₄Cl: (Ce; Dy; Ce, Dy; Mn; Ce, Mn; Pb and Ce, Pb) phosphors prepared by solid state diffusion method have been studied for its thermoluminescence (TL) characteristics. The TL glow curves of γ-irradiated all KCaSO₄Cl samples show strong single glow peaks indicating that only one type of trap can be formed. The intensity of the TL glow peaks increases with increase of the γ-ray dose to the samples but the intensity of the TL glow peaks increases with decrease of the concentration of the dopent. The sensitivity of all the phosphors presented here are more than that of CaSO₄: Dy. The phosphors have a simple TL glow curve structure with a prominent peak at the lower temperature side. TL response, fading, reusability of the phosphors are also studied, and it is found that the phosphor is quite suitable for use in dosimetry of ionizing radiations.     

Investigation of sodium sulfate phase transitions in a porous material using humidity- and temperature-controlled X-ray diffraction

Crystals growing in confined spaces can generate stress and are a major cause of damage in porous materials. To investigate such deleterious processes, appropriate in situ techniques are required. This paper describes the use of X-ray diffractometry under controlled conditions of temperature and relative humidity (RH-XRD) for the direct observation of phase transition reactions in a porous substrate. An improved environmental chamber without temperature gradients is presented and applied to the investigation of phase transformations in the system Na2SO4 + H2O. This salt is generally considered as particularly damaging and frequently used in accelerated weathering tests. It is demonstrated that RH-XRD can be successfully applied for the direct observation of several relevant phase transitions in glass frits used as porous substrates. The conversion of Na2SO4(III) to Na2SO4(V) and the hydration of Na2SO4(V) both proceed fairly rapidly as true solid-state reactions without deliquescence of the educt phases. In contrast, crystallization from solution is kinetically hindered as there is a strong tendency of aqueous Na2SO4 to form supersaturated solutions also in narrow pores. The important implications of this behavior of the salt are also briefly discussed in the paper.     

Photoluminescence and thermoluminescence properties of tricalcium phosphate phosphors doped with dysprosium and europium

The suitability of calcium phosphate crystals for thermoluminescence dosimetry (TLD) applications is investigated, owing to their equivalence to bone mineral. The α and β phases of tricalcium phosphate (TCP) were synthesized through wet precipitation and high temperature solid state routes and doped with Dy and Eu. The photoluminescence and thermoluminescence studies of the phosphors have been carried out. The TL properties were found to be highly dependent on the method of preparation of the material. Eu doping gave good PL emission, whereas Dy doping was more efficient in TL emission. β-TCP was found to be less TL sensitive than α-TCP, yet it was identified as a better phosphor material owing to its better fading characteristics. The dependence of TL of β-TCP: Dy on the energy and dose of radiation, and on the doping concentration were studied. The TL intensity was observed to fade exponentially during a storage period of 20 days, but it stabilized at 70% of the initial value after 30 days. The optimum doping concentration was found to be 0.5 mol%.     

Thermoluminescence characteristics of MgB4O7 : Dy,Na

Some thermoluminescence characteristics of magnesium borate activated by Dy and Na are reported, namely the thermoluminescence (TL) response as a function of the absorbed dose and the fading behaviour. Furthermore, according to the fading results, the hypothesis of a continuous trap distribution is suggested to explain the evolution of the kinetics parameters, i.e. activation energy and kinetics order.     

Batch-to-batch variation in the TL glow peaks and sensitivity in the production of CaSO4:Dy TLD phosphor

The thermoluminescence (TL) glow peak height ratio of the main dosimetric peak (at about 240 degrees C) and the lower temperature satellite peak (at about 140 degrees C) of CaSO4:Dy was found to vary between 1.4 and 11.5 in more than 100 batches of CaSO4:Dy TLD tested in the last 5 years. Efforts were made to minimise the batch-to-batch variation. In most of the batches (90% of cases), the peak height ratio was more than 5 and the variation in the TL sensitivity (with respect to the reference batch) rarely exceeded 10%. The study of the grain size dependence of the peak height ratio of ground and unground and with and without acid wash of phosphor grains indicated that the surface effects contribute significantly to the batch-to-batch variation. Crystallisation of phosphor grains was found to be affected considerably by the interruptions in the process of evaporation of acid during the preparation. Phosphor grain size was found to be an important parameter for maintaining the quality of production of CaSO4:Dy TLD phosphor.     

TL and OSL of SrSO4 phosphors doped with Eu

The thermoluminescence (TL) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) of SrSO4:Eu (0.1 mol%) powder sample were studied. The TL and OSL emission spectrum are measured after irradiation (absorbed dose 100 Gy) of 90Sr source; both of them showed that the emission wavelength is at approximately 375 nm, which indicates that TL and OSL have the same luminescence centres, and the luminescence comes from transitions between the energy levels of Eu2+. The TL glow curves and OSL decay curves illustrate that there is only one main TL peak but two main components in OSL curves. By a comparative study of TL and OSL it is concluded that OSL traps are different from TL traps. The TL and OSL dose responses of SrSO4:Eu phosphor were measured, and it showed that phosphor has similar dose responses for OSL and TL.     

Analysis of the glow curves obtained from LiF:Mg,Cu,Na,Si TL material using the general order kinetics model

Three-dimensional thermoluminescence (TL) spectra based on temperature, wavelength and intensity for newly developed LiF:Mg,Cu,Na,Si TL material at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) were measured and analysed. The glow curves were obtained by integration of luminescence intensity over all wavelengths at each temperature, and various trapping parameters related to the traps were determined by analysing these curves. A computerised glow curve deconvolution (CGCD) method which was based on the general order kinetics (GOK) model was used for the glow curve analysis. The glow curves of LiF:Mg,Cu,Na,Si TL material were deconvoluted to six isolated glow curves which have peak temperatures at 333, 374, 426, 466, 483 and 516 K. The main glow peak of peak temperature at 466 K had activation energy of 2.06 eV and a kinetic order of 1.05. This TL material was also found to have three recombination centres, 1.80 eV, 2.88 eV and 3.27 eV by analysis of the TL spectra.     

Mechano and thermoluminescence of gamma-irradiated CaSO4:Dy phosphor

In order to have a better idea of the interaction of the defect centres produced by y-irradiation with dislocation in the processes of deformation destruction, mechanoluminescence (ML) and thermoluminescence (TL) of gamma-irradiated CaSO4:Dy, these phosphors have been investigated. CaSO4:Dy phosphors were prepared by dissolving CaSO4.2H2O in sulphuric acid and evaporating the excess acid around 300 degrees C. ML was excited impulsively by dropping a load on to the sample. Two peaks have been observed in the ML intensity against time curve. The total light output, i.e. integrated ML intensity, increases with concentration of dopant, strain rate and with irradiation doses. The TL glow curves of CaSO4:Dy phosphors at different concentrations of dopant and irradiation doses were also recorded. Studies of the influence of post-irradiation annealing on the ML of CaSO4:Dy show that with the removal of the TL dosemetric peak (approximately 210 degrees C) the ML intensity decreases markedly. A spectroscopic study of ML and TL has also been carried out to elucidate the mechanism of ML. Correlation between ML and TL has also been found.     

Defect complexes in Re3+-doped magnesium sulphate phosphors

A series of magnesium sulphate phosphors MgSO4:RE3+,X ( RE = Dy, Tm, Eu and X = P, Mn) have been prepared and studied. Based on the experimental results of thermoluminescence (TL) emission spectra and dose responses studies, it is proposed that in these phosphors large defect complexes are formed, which include intrinsic imperfections and dopants. These defect complexes were formed in the course of preparation of phosphors and could be regarded as basic elements in the TL multi-stage processes. This defect model might be applicable to the most of TL materials.     

Development of a TL detector for neutron measurement by CaSO4:Dy phosphors

Personal neutron dosimetry is quite a difficult area because a neutron is always accompanied with gamma radiation, which is required of a capability for mixed field dosimetry. CaSO4:Dy phosphor is known to have a very high sensitivity to gamma radiation, but the neutron capture cross section of the constituents of CaSO4:Dy are so small that the interactions between the thermal neutron and the phosphor are rare. One method to improve the neutron interaction is by introducing an impurity ion with a large thermal neutron captures cross section into the phosphor to act as a neutron target centre such as 6Li. In neutron-gamma mixed radiation fields, if two detectors for the 6Li-7Li compounds embedded CaSO4:Dy thermoluminescent (TL) pellets are used, a 6Li-compound embedded pellet can detect the neutron and gamma radiations together, and the other pellet can only detect the gamma radiation. Recently, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) has developed a new type of CaSO4:Dy TL materials embedded with phosphorous (KCT-300) to detect beta and gamma radiation with a very high sensitivity. This paper presents the development of CaSO4:Dy TL pellets embedded with 6Li compound for a thermal neutron measurement, and the detection method of the neutron and gamma dose in mixed fields with CaSO4:Dy TL pellets embedded with a 6Li compound (KCT-306) and CaSO4:Dy TL pellets embedded with a 7Li compound (KCT-307) is introduced. The net neutron sensitivity of CaSO4:Dy TL pellets embedded with 6Li compound developed in this study is about two times higher than that of the TLD-600 (Harshaw Chemical) dosemeter which is available commercially.     

Thermoluminescence characterization of Tb3+ and Ce3+ doped nanocrystalline Y3Al5O12 exposed to X- and β-ray irradiation

The thermoluminescence (TL) characterization of undoped, as well as Ce³⁺ and Tb³⁺ doped Y₃Al₅O₁₂ (YAG) nanocrystals, exposed to X- and β-radiation was performed. The samples were prepared by precipitation process and the crystalline structure was obtained after annealing at 1150 °C. The TL signal of the undoped samples indicates a high sensitivity to X- and β-ray irradiation. The introduction of the dopants ions induced changes in the TL glow curve structure and the kinetic properties modifying the radiative recombination efficiency. The TL results suggest that both undoped and doped YAG nanocrystalline phosphor present a good potential for X- and β-ray irradiation dosimeter applications.     

Thermoluminescence response of K2YF5:Tb3+ crystals to photon radiation fields

This investigation has been performed to test the feasibility of using K2YF5:Tb3+ crystals as thermoluminescence dosemeters (TLD). K2YF5 single crystals doped with 0.2, 10.0 and 50.0 at.% of trivalent optically active Tb3+ ions as well as K2TbF5 and undoped K2YF5 crystals have been synthesized under hydrothermal conditions. Polished crystal platelets with thickness of about 1 mm have been irradiated with X and gamma rays in order to study thermoluminescent (TL) sensitivity as well as dose and energy response in terms of the Tb3+ concentration in K2YF5. Within this concentration series, K2YF5 crystals doped with 10.0 at.% Tb3+ have been found to have maximum TL response due to a broad asymmetric TL glow peak at 269 degrees C with good linearity of dose response and reproducibility of dose measurements. After deconvolution, the main dosimetric peak has been revealed to be composed of two individual peaks, both with linear TL response behaviour, centered at 210 and 269 degrees C. As it has been proved, the linear TL signal coefficient for K2Y0.9Tb0.1F5 is almost 10 times greater than that for commercial TLD-100 (LiF:Mg,Ti), irradiated with a 137Cs gamma radiation source at the same conditions. The reported results indicate that K2YF5 crystals doped with Tb3+ have potential as promising materials for radiation dosemeters.     

Preparation and Gas-sensing Characteristics of Na~+-doped ZnO Single Crystals

ZnO single crystals were grown by vapor phase reaction of Zno powder with active carbon powdei at an elevated temperature The typical crystals were colorless and transparent with maximum size o4 0.1 mm in diameter and 25 mm in length, The gas-sensing characteristics of Na+-doped anc undoped single crystals were investigated in 1 %H2. Co and CH, in air between 1 50 and 600℃. It was found that the undoped ZnO single crystals showed little gas sensitivity in air. and Na+-doping can greatly enhance the senstivity by increasing the resistivities. The maximum sensitivity of the samples is 22 (Ra/ Rg) for H2. 1 2 for CO and 4 for CH4     

Electron spin resonance evaluation of pure CaSO4 and as a phosphor doped with P and Dy

Polycrystalline CaSO4 powder, doped with different elements but mainly rare earths, is one of the most interesting thermoluminescent (TL) materials. Although many electron spin resonance (ESR) analyses have been reported for these materials few studies have been published about the potential of CaSO4 for ESR dosimetry; almost all studies used CaSO4:Dy with a very low Dy concentration as the material for TL measurements. Pure CaSO4 from Merck was used to prepare CaSO4:Dy and CaSO4:P:Dy with different Dy concentrations. Samples were annealed at 600 degrees C for 1 h before irradiation in a Gammacell 220 irradiator with a 60Co gamma source at a dose rate of 100 Gy x min(-1). The ESR spectra of the pure CaSO4 and CaSO4 doped with P and Dy show the lines usually observed with these types of material, with the factor g around 2.036 and an intense line at g = 2.0011 found only in the pure material. This line, probably an axial SO4-, grows linearly with absorbed dose until 1.0 kGy and shows good stability with time. The line should be stabilized by matrix impurities because it can be removed by a simple treatment with hot sulphuric acid.     

Development of LiF:Mg,Cu,Si TL material (new KLT-300) with a low-residual signal and high-thermal stability

LiF-based thermoluminescence (TL) materials have been widely used for radiation dosimetry due to their attractive features. LiF:Mg,Cu,P is one of the most sensitive tissue-equivalent TL materials, approximately 40 times more sensitive than LiF:Mg,Ti (TLD-100), but it has two main drawbacks: a thermal loss of the TL sensitivity when annealed at temperatures >240 degrees C, and a relatively high-residual signal. Recently, LiF:Mg,Cu,Na,Si TL material was developed to overcome these drawbacks at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, but it provided only marginal improvements in reducing the residual signal. The newly developed LiF:Mg,Cu,Si TL material has a significantly lower residual signal and a better stability to thermal treatments. In this article, the preparation method and some dosimetric properties (sensitivity and residual signal) of the new LiF:Mg,Cu,Si TL material are presented. At the end of the preparation procedures, a dual-step annealing method is introduced and this has proved as a very efficient method to reduce the high-temperature peak and is the cause of residual signal. Therefore, the high-temperature peak in the glow curve was significantly reduced. The sensitivity is approximately 20 times higher than that of TLD-100 and the residual signal was estimated to be approximately 0.04%.