Gafchromic™ MD-V3 and HD-V2 film response depends little on temperature at time of exposure

Abstract

Controlled irradiation of insects is required for the sterile insect technique (SIT) as the insects require an optimal dose to ensure full sterility but overdosing must be avoided for the successful implementation of the SIT. Reliable dosimetry is thus necessary for irradiation quality assurance. Gafchromic™ films are frequently used in SIT programmes both for dose mapping and for dose confirmation.Numerous publications prior to 2010 on the characteristics of Gafchromic films all show that temperature at irradiation has an effect on the response of the films. New versions of these films became available in 2010, with a yellow marker dye to allow correction for variation in the active layer thickness and reduced energy dependence in the films' response. As no information on the temperature effect have been published since the production of the new films, we completed a series of exposures of the new HD-V2 and MD-V3 films at varying temperatures and doses to evaluate the films’ response. The MD-V3 and HD-V2 films have significantly improved temperature response at the time of irradiation and consistency of the absorption spectrum at different doses. These improvements lead to simplifications in the process of using these films for dose measurement.