TL properties of RE-Doped and Co-doped Sol-gel Silica Rods. Application to Passive (OSL) and Real-time (RL) Dosimetry

TL;DR

This study investigates sol-gel silica rods doped with Ce and Ce-Tb ions, demonstrating their high sensitivity and linear response in thermoluminescence, optically stimulated luminescence, and radioluminescence for potential medical and environmental dosimetry applications.

Contribution

The paper introduces doped sol-gel silica rods with unprecedented RL sensitivity and linearity over a wide dose rate range, suitable for real-time dosimetry.

Findings

RL sensitivity is extremely high and linear over 6 decades.

OSL response is linear with absorbed dose.

Potential for medical and environmental dosimetry applications.

Abstract

Two rods made from sol-gel silica have been doped with Ce ions or co-doped with Ce and Tb ions respectively. First, a thermoluminescence (TL) characterization of the trapping and luminescence parameters is carried out to understand the physical mechanisms involved following the irradiation of these rods and to evaluate their dosimetric properties. The optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and the radioluminescence (RL) responses as a function of respectively absorbed dose and dose rate are assessed. The OSL response of both rods is linear as a function of the absorbed dose. The RL sensitivity of both rods proves not only to be extremely high but also shows a linear behavior over more than 6 decades, allowing real-time detection of dose rates as low as few $\mu$Gy s$^{-1}$, a threshold that to our knowledge, has never been reached. The results from RL and OSL show that these silica-based doped rods are potentially suitable for medical dosimetry and environmental monitoring around nuclear sites.