The influence of high-energy 7Li ions on the TL response and glow curve structure of CaSO4 : Dy

Abstract

Thermoluminescence (TL) of CaSO4 : Dy phosphor, irradiated by 48 MeV 7Li ions with different fluences in the range 1 × 109–5 × 1011 ions cm−2 has been studied. The samples from the same batch were also exposed to γ-rays from a Co60 source for comparative studies. The TL glow curve of the material, irradiated with the ion beam has a simple structure with a prominent peak at around 494 K along with three small shoulders at around 424, 592 and 662 K. The TL saturation has been observed at around the fluence 1 × 1011 ions cm−2. As the fluence is increased from 1 × 109 to 5 × 1011 ions cm−2, a shift in the peak positions towards the lower temperature side, by around 7 K was observed. However, with increasing fluence, the TL glow curve structure remains invariant with no change in the relative intensities between the 494 and 424 K peaks, while in the case of γ-irradiated samples, in contrast, the intensity ratios of these peaks increase exponentially with exposures. Theoretical analysis of the glow curves of the ion beam and γ-irradiated samples was done by the glow curve deconvolution method. The efficiency of CaSO4 : Dy to 48 MeV 7Li ions has been measured relative to γ-rays of Co60 and found to be 0.81. This result, along with the observed good linearity over a large span of fluences, shows that this phosphor is quite suitable as a dosimeter for heavy charged particles.