Thermoluminescence properties of β-ray irradiated LuAGG:Ce nanophosphors prepared by sol-gel method for potential applications in dosimetry

Abstract

In this paper, Lu2.97Al5–xGaxO12:Ce0.03 (x = 0, 1, 2, 3) nanophosphors were synthesized using sol-gel method and calcined at 1100 °C for 3 h. The effect of Ga content on the structural, photoluminescence (PL), and notably thermoluminescence (TL) glow curve, dose response, repeatability and fading properties were investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results indicated that all synthesized samples were crystallized in a pure garnet phase. The PL emission spectra exhibited a broad emission band corresponding to the 5 d → 4f (2F5/2, 2F7/2) transition of Ce3+ ions in the garnet lattice. Furthermore, a significant decrease in emission intensity was observed upon increasing Ga content. The TL characteristics of nanopowders irradiated with β-rays revealed a significant effect of Ga content on the peak position, shape and intensities of TL Glow curves, which can be explained by the reduction of the energy gap and the distribution of trap levels. The dose response linearity in the range of 0.125–100 Gy was examined for different Ga content, revealing a good linear behavior for x = 0 and 1 Ga. Additionally, samples prepared with x = 0, 1, and 2 Ga exhibited a high level of repeatability across a batch of 10 samples. Also, fading studies were performed for 128 h and revealed strong fading in samples synthesized with x = 0 and 1 Ga. These results suggest potential applications of Lu3Al5O12:Ce and Lu3Al4Ga1O12:Ce in ionizing radiation dosimetry.