Photo-stimulated luminescence of KCl:Eu under X-ray and ion irradiation

We compared the photo-stimulated luminescence (PSL) process of storage phosphor KCl:Eu under the irradiation of X-ray, 2.0 MeV H⁺ ions and 2.0 MeV He⁺ ions. The purpose of the irradiation of H⁺ and He⁺ ions was to mimic the irradiation effects of neutrons. In each case, it was revealed that F-centers were involved in the PSL process. We observed an entirely different fluence-dependent PSL behavior between the X-ray and the ion irradiation, whereas the behavior of the F-center absorption was quite similar. This difference was due to the different yields of the trapping sites for the electrons liberated from the F-centers, and the difference in the yield was ascribed to the difference in the excitation density. This result clearly indicated a marked difference in the PSL process under X-ray and neutron irradiations and indicated that the analysis of the PSL process under ion irradiation is highly important for the application of PSL phosphors to neutron radiography.