Optically and thermally stimulated luminescence of CaB6O10:Ce,LiCl: Basic properties

Abstract

The goal of the present investigation is to explore the optically stimulated luminescent (OSL) properties of CaB6O10:Ce,LiCl in order to verify its viability as detector of ionizing radiation. Here, we investigate basic dosimetric and luminescent properties of this material. To this end, we carried out radioluminescence (RL), thermoluminescence (TL) and OSL measurements. We investigated the dose-response to ionizing radiation, the luminescent emission spectra, stability of the TL signal, and lifetime of the associated luminescent centers. The crystalline phase was verified by X-ray diffraction. TL measurement shows that the material is highly sensitive to ionizing radiation with a dominant TL peak at ~290°C. RL measurement features a broad-band spectrum in contrast with the spectrum recorded during TL readout, which is narrow and was attributed primary to the 5d-4f transition from Ce3+. The time-resolved OSL is characterized by two fast components, namely, 70.1(6) ns and143(4) ns and thus, suitable for 2D laser scanning readout. Dose-response curve was linear over the tested range (2mGy−300Gy) without trend to saturation. The current drawback is the OSL signal fading of up to 80% within 24h by computing the initial intensity and of up to 50% by computing the integrated signal over 100s. In principle, this issue may be solved by a fast heating of up to 80°C prior to readout.