Ceramics, Glass and Glass-Ceramics for Personal Radiation Detectors.

Szymon Świontek,Wojciech Gieszczyk,Marcin Środa

doi:10.3390/ma14205987

Abstract

Different types of ceramics and glass have been extensively investigated due to their application in brachytherapy, radiotherapy, nuclear medicine diagnosis, radioisotope power systems, radiation processing of food, geological and archaeological dating methods. This review collects the newest experimental results on the thermoluminescent (TL) properties of crystalline and glassy materials. The comparison of the physico-chemical properties shows that glassy materials could be a promising alternative for dosimetry purposes. Furthermore, the controlled process of crystallization can enhance the thermoluminescent properties of glasses. On the other hand, the article presents information on the ranges of the linear response to the dose of ionizing radiation and on the temperature positions of the thermoluminescent peaks depending on the doping concentration with rare-earth elements for crystalline and glassy materials. Additionally, the stability of dosimetric information storage (fading) and the optimal concentration of admixtures that cause the highest thermoluminescent response for a given type of the material are characterized. The influence of modifiers addition, i.e., rare-earth elements on the spectral properties of borate and phosphate glasses is described.

Highlights

Thermoluminescent dosimetry is a science which deals with measuring doses of ionizing radiation with the use of TL detectors
Due to the increasing use of ionizing radiation in technology, it seems that we must search for better materials suitable for radiation shielding
The phenomenon of thermoluminescence depends on the light emission as a result of heating a sample that was previously exposed to ionizing radiation

Summary

Introduction

Thermoluminescent dosimetry is a science which deals with measuring doses of ionizing radiation with the use of TL detectors. The glow curve shape depends on several factors, such as: the TL material composition, kind of dopants, types of defect centers induced by irradiation, the type of ionizing radiation and its dose level. When the shape of the glow curve is asymmetric, wider at the low temperature region than at the high temperature region, the kinetic process of thermoluminescence is attributed to the first order [24]. It can be equivocally expressed as no re-trapping luminescence process during which all the charge carriers freed from the trap centers follow directly to the recombination points. When heat or light stimulate the structure of the glass, the recombination of charges results in luminescence

Materials and Methods

Findings

Dopant Linear Region References sodium phosphate