Thermally stimulated luminescence of BaZrO3:Eu3+ nanopowders for dosimetric applications

Abstract

In this study, we synthesized BaZrO3 nanoparticles (NPs) by incorporating Eu3+ ions at various concentrations (1–15 mol%) using hydrothermal synthesis. We confirmed the cubic crystalline structure of the samples and determined an average crystallite size of 13.15 nm through X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy revealed spherical nanoparticles with an approximate diameter of 55 nm in the BaZrO3:Eu3+ sample. Before conducting thermoluminescence (TL) measurements, the samples underwent thermal treatment at 350 °C. The TL glow curve of the phosphor, when exposed to beta irradiation, exhibited two prominent peaks with maxima at approximately 127 and 295 °C, with a heating rate of 10 °C/s. We identified the optimal doping concentration for BaZrO3:Eu3+ as 5 mol%. The TL response demonstrated excellent linearity within the 1–39 Gy range when subjected to beta particle irradiation. We also observed noteworthy repeatability in the integrated TL response across 10 irradiation-TL readout cycles, with less than 2 % variations. Over 21 days, the signal faded to approximately 50 %. Furthermore, we employed general-order kinetics, the TLAnal software, and TM-Tstop experiments to deconvolute the TL glow curve of BaZrO3:Eu3+. This analysis revealed at least 5 TL peaks, each exhibiting a first-order tendency. Our findings indicate the potential of BaZrO3:Eu3+ as a promising dosimeter for ionizing radiation applications.