Behaviour of LiF:Mg,Cu,P and LiF:Mg,Ti thermoluminescent detectors for electron doses up to 1 MGy

The behaviour of LiF:Mg,Cu,P and LiF:Mg,Ti detectors at ultra-high doses up to 1 MGy, has been investigated. The presence of the ultra-high-temperature peak (450 °C) of reproducible properties was observed in various batches of LiF:Mg,Cu,P, confirming earlier findings. The results indicate that this peak is not an effect of random impurities nor intrinsic effects of LiF, but it is rather connected with the doping.A parameter called ultra-high temperature ratio (UHTR) was defined in order to quantify the observed changes of LiF:Mg,Cu,P glow-curve shape at very high doses and very high temperatures. The use of this parameter allows to determine an absorbed dose in the range from 1 kGy to 1 MGy. This new method of high-dose dosimetry makes LiF:Mg,Cu,P a unique dosimeter, which is capable to cover at least 12 orders of magnitude of dose range: from a microgray to a megagray.     

A study on thermal degradation of LiF:Mg,Cu,P and LiF:Mg,Cu,Si

We investigated the thermal degradation of LiF:Mg,Cu,P (NTL-250) and LiF:Mg,Cu,Si (MCS) for the development of TL sheet. By thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC), the exothermic reaction was observed between 320 °C and 400 °C in MCS as well as NTL-250. The heat value of MCS was twice as large as that of NTL-250. This ratio corresponded with that of Mg amount in these TL materials measured by ICP-OES (inductively-coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry). X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements were also carried out, and the peaks of MgF₂ phase were also observed in degraded MCS sample as well as NTL-250. Moreover, X-ray absorption near-edge structures (XANES) of Cu in these LiF TLDs were measured. The valences of Cu did not change before and after degradation. It indicates that the thermal degradation is caused by not Cu but Mg ion state change. The exothermic reaction is possible caused by the stabilization reactions, and then it was expected to correspond with MgF₂ precipitation. From these results, we concluded that the thermal degradations of these LiF TLDs are caused by the precipitation of MgF₂.     

Optical and luminescence properties of single crystals of LiF:Cu and LiF:Mg,Cu

Results from spectral studies of the optical and luminescent properties of single crystals of lithium fluoride grown using the Czochralski technique and doped with ions of copper and magnesium, are presented. The effect of heat treatment regimes and the dependence of the concentration of magnesium impurities on the sensitivity of crystals of LiF:Mg, Cu to ionizing radiation are discussed.     

Thermoluminescence of nanocrystalline LiF:Mg, Cu, P

Nanocrystalline LiF:Mg, Cu, P of rod shape (about 30-40 nm in diameter and 0.3-0.5 μm in length) has been prepared by the chemical co-precipitation method. Thermoluminescence (TL) and dosimetric characteristics of the nanocrystalline phosphor are studied and presented here. The formation of the material was confirmed by the X-ray diffraction (XRD). Its shape and size were also observed by transmission electron microscope (TEM). The TL glow curve of the nanocrystalline powder shows a single peak at 410 K along with four overlapping peaks of lesser intensities at around 570, 609, 638 and 663 K. The observed TL sensitivity of the prepared nanocrystalline powder is less than that of the commercially available “Harshaw TLD-700H hot-pressed chips” at low doses but it still around three times more than that of LiF:Mg, Ti (TLD-100) phosphor. The 410 K peak of the nanomaterial phosphor shows a very linear response with exposures increasing up to very high values (as high as 10 kGy), where all the other thermoluminesent dosimeters (TLD) phosphors show saturation. This linear response over a large span of exposures (0.1 Gy-10 kGy) along with negligible fading and its insensitivity to heating treatments makes the nanocrystalline phosphor useful for its application to estimate high exposures of γ-rays. The ‘tissue equivalence’ property of this material also makes it useful over a wide range of high-energy radiation.     

The dose and X-ray energy response of LiF:Mg,Cu,P and CaSO4:Dy thermoluminescent foils

Within a systematic study of a novel system enabling 2D readout of TL foils, the X-ray energy and dose response was investigated in TL foils containing LiF:Mg,Cu,P (MCP-N) or CaSO4:Dy as activators. Foils were exposed to broad X-ray beams of mean energies ranging between 45 keV and 208 keV (ISO 4037 standard), with reference to 662 keV ¹³⁷Cs gamma rays. The MCP-N foils, of about 380 nm emission wavelength, show a flat X-ray energy response, but low sensitivity. Due to poor TL light detection efficiency of the CCD (charge-coupled device) camera over this range of wavelengths, only doses exceeding 500 mGy can be reliably measured. In the case of CaSO4:Dy foils, their TL light emitted around 450 nm wavelengths is registered by the CCD camera with no loss of efficiency, enabling X-ray doses as low as 100 mGy to be evaluated. Unlike that of MCP-N, the dose response of CaSO4:Dy foils is highly supralinear. Nevertheless, within experimental conditions applied in this study, the 2D-TL technique may be applied to determine Entrance Surface Dose or Maximum Skin Dose in radiology. The more sensitive CaSO4:Dy foils could be used only in a well-specified radiation field (e.g., in mammography) or in qualitative dose mapping.     

Reconstruction of a 6-MeV bremsstrahlung spectrum by multi-layer absorption based on LiF:Mg,Cu, P

In this paper, TLD （LiF： Mg, Cu, P） is used as detector. A multi-layer absorption （MLA） model is designed. Combined with Monte-Carlo processes, a bremsstrahlung X-ray spectrum is reconstructed by an iterative method; the reconstructed results agree with the results of simulations by the MCNP process essentially, especially in middle energy region.     

Ultra-thin LiF:Mg,Cu,P detectors for beta dosimetry

Standard thermoluminescent (TL) detectors, owing to their relatively large thickness, may seriously underestimate personal skin doses which are defined at the depth of 7 mg cm⁻². New TL ultra-thin, LiF:Mg,Cu,P-based detectors have been developed at the Institute of Nuclear Physics to fulfill simultaneously the requirements of flat energy response for beta rays and the ability to measure low beta ray doses. In our detectors a thin layer of MCP phosphor is bonded with a thick base of undoped LiF. We assess the effective thickness of this detector to be 8.5 mg cm⁻². Tests of these detectors exposed with and without covering foil to ¹⁴⁷Pm, ²⁰⁴Tl and ⁹⁰Sr/⁹⁰Y calibrated beta fields indicate that our detectors feature an essentially flat energy response and good angular characteristics. The sensitivity of our detectors permits doses in the microsievert range to be measured reliably.     

Investigation and simulation of the structural and electronic properties of LiF:Mg,LiF:Cu,LiF:P nano-layer dosimeters

In this study, electronic structure of lithium fluoride thin films in pure state and doped with magnesium (Mg), copper (Cu) and phosphorus (P) impurities was studied using WIEN2K Code. The structural and electronic properties of two LiF thin films with 1.61 and 4.05?nm thicknesses were studied and compared. Results show that the distance of atoms in the surface and central layers of pure LiF are 1.975 and 2.03?nm, respectively. Electronic density of the valence band around the surface atoms is greater than that around middle atoms of the supercell. The band gap of bulk LiF is 9?eV. But, in the case of thin films, it is reduced to 2?eV. Electronic and hole-traps were not observed in composition of LiF thin films doped with Mg and P with 1.61 and 4.05?nm thickness and in fact, metallic properties were observed. When Cu atoms were doped in composition of an LiF thin film, the thin film was converted to semiconductor.     

Synthesis and luminescence properties of nanocrystalline LiF:Mg,Cu,P phosphor

Nanocrystalline LiF:Mg,Cu,P phosphor material of different shapes and sizes (microcrystalline cubic shape, nanorod shape and nanocrystalline cubical shaped) have been prepared by the chemical co-precipitation method. Thermoluminescence (TL) and other dosimetric characteristics of the phosphor are studied and presented here. The formation of the materials was confirmed by the X-ray diffraction (XRD). Its shapes and sizes were also observed using scanning electron microscope (SEM). The TL glow curve of the microcrystalline powder shows a prominent single peak at 408 K along with another peak of lesser intensity at around 638 K. On the contrary, the nanocrystalline rod shaped particles show a peak of low intensity at 401 K and a prominent peak around 700 K while the nanocrystalline particles in cubical shapes again show two peaks, one at around 407 K and the other at around 617 K, of which the lower temperature (407 K) peak is more prominent. The glow curve structure changes at very high doses (100 kRad) and some new peaks appear at around 525 and 637 K also the first peak appearing at around 401 K becomes prominent. The observed changes in TL due to the change in the shape and sizes of the nanophosphor have been reported. The PL has also been studied and various excitation and emission peaks observed due to the presence of various impurities are explained. The observed results have been explained in the light of asymmetrical crystal field effects due to asymmetrical shapes of the nanocrystalline phosphor. The comparison of these properties with the microcrystalline material prepared by the same co-precipitation method is also done.     

Effect of dopants on TL characteristics of LiF:Mg,Cu,P detectors

LiF:Mg,Cu,P detectors produced at the Institute of Nuclear Physics in Krakow have shown very good dosimetric characteristics. Understanding of the effect of the concentration and type of dopants is important in the characterization of TL materials. The aim of work was to investigate the influence of the type and concentration of the dopants on the photon energy response of these detectors by irradiations “in air” and on the ISO water phantom in the range of mean photon energies between 33 and 164 keV. The influence of dopants on the glow curves, sensitivity and reproducibility was also examined. Results showed that measured energy dependence values are lower compared to the theoretical values both “in air” and on phantom. The type and concentration of the dopants influence the shape of the glow curves and sensitivity while for energy dependence is more important the presence of certain activators, namely copper.     

Spectrally resolved thermoluminescence of highly irradiated LiF:Mg,Cu,P detectors

Well known, widely applied high sensitive thermoluminescence (TL) detector LiF:Mg,Cu,P (MCP-N) was investigated. This paper analyses changes of the TL emission spectrum of MCP-N after irradiation with ultra high doses (up to 500 kGy). Spectral dependence of TL on dose is very complex especially in the region of very high doses (>1 kGy). As a general trend we found that the number of peaks increases with dose in the long-wavelength region indicating new types of recombination centres (RCs). Wavelength peak positions for increasing doses are quite stable. Only some of them show slight red-shift.     

Influence of sintering temperatures on LiF:Mg,Cu,P with various magnesium concentrations

The dependence of LiF:Mg,Cu,P samples with various concentrations of Mg on sintering temperatures was investigated to find a new dosimeter. The influence of high sintering temperatures on LiF:Mg,Cu,P chips depends strongly on Mg concentrations. The height of the main peak versus the sintering temperatures exhibits a maximum, the position of which varies between 690 °C and 750 °C, depending on the Mg concentration in the range studied. The high temperature peaks of LiF:Mg,Cu,P for various Mg concentrations reduce basically when the sintering temperature is increased. LiF:Mg,Cu,P is much less sensitive than LiF:Mg,Cu,Si to sintering temperature. LiF:Mg,Cu,P with 0.6 mol% of Mg can be re-used at annealing temperature of 260 °C, regardless of the sintering temperature. It was found that the optimum concentration is Mg: 0.6 mol%, the optimum sintering temperature is 750 °C, considering that LiF:Mg,Cu,P with a low residual signal and good sensitivity can be re-used at annealing temperature of 260 °C and produced in a large scale. The new optimum LiF:Mg,Cu,P formation has 52 times higher than that of the TLD-100, and an extremely low residual signal of 0.07% without an initialization readout procedure.     

Experimental validation of a Tokamak neutron spectrometer based on Bonner spheres

In order to realize real-time fusion neutron spectrum diagnosis for the HL 2A Tokamak, a Bonner Sphere Spectrometer(BSS) array has been developed, consisting of eight polyethylene spheres(PS) with embedded3 He proportional counters.To validate its spectrometric capability, spectrum measurement of an241Am-Be neutron source was carried out and is described.The Monte Carlo code Geant4 was used to calculate the response functions,taking this interference into consideration.Finally, the neutron spectrum was unfolded in the energy range from10-9MeV to 20 MeV.The unfolded spectrum has remarkable consistency with the ISO 8529-1 standard241Am-Be neutron spectrum which is a preliminary demonstration that this BSS is reliable and practical.     

The effect of thermal annealing on defect structure and thermoluminescence in LiF:Mg,Cu,P

We have studied the behavior of the glow peaks in the thermoluminescence of LiF:Mg,Cu,P as a function of pre-irradiation annealing temperature in the range 80 to 170°C, and as a function of cooling rate following the 240°C/10 min anneal used for standardization in dosimetric procedures. The intensities of the major peaks in LiF:Mg,Cu,P (as well as in LiF:Mg,Ti—the current industrial standard) seem to be determined by the dynamics of clustering of (Mg²⁺−Li_vac) dipoles to dimers, trimers and a precipitate phase. The intensities of the thermal interactions, however, seem to be somewhat reduced in LiF:Mg,Cu,P compared to LiF:Mg,Ti. In addition, it seems plausible that phosphorus takes the role of titanium in LiF:Mg,Cu,P in the formation of a trapping center/recombination center spatially correlated complex.