LumReader: Designing your luminescence experiment with R

Abstract

During the last decades, luminescence dating has entered a phase of diversification. This evolution is strongly linked to a series of technical advances, including but not limited to the improvement of EMCCD cameras and the use of violet and yellow LEDs. New measurement techniques have been developed, such as post infra-red infra-red stimulated luminescence (postIR-IRSL) measurement protocols and thermally-transferred OSL (TT-OSL), and the luminescence properties of new materials, such as gypsum and apatite, have been reinvestigated.The appropriate configuration of detection equipment is key to the design of new experimental investigations. The R-package LumReader has been designed to simulate both the detection properties of luminescence readers and the emission properties of materials. It allows optimisation of the experimental detection window for a given filter and detector (PMT or EMCCD camera) combination through comparison of the detection window, the stimulation signal and the luminescence emission of the studied material. With the development of a reference database and its flexibility for accommodating user defined functions, this package will allow the spectral information of any luminescence experiment to be simulated, also facilitating experimental design.