Nanocrystalline materials for the dosimetry of heavy charged particles: A review

Thermally stimulated luminescence or better known as thermoluminescence (TL) is a powerful technique extensively used for dosimetry of ionizing radiations. TL dosimeter (TLD) materials presently in use are inorganic crystalline materials. They are in the form of chips, single crystals or microcrystalline size powder. The most popular are LiF:Mg,Ti, LiF:Mg,Cu,P, CaSO4:Dy, CaF2:Dy and Al2O3:C. However, these TLD materials are not capable of precisely detecting heavy charged particles (HCP) irradiations in their present forms. The saturation effect is the major problem, which occurs at relatively low fluences (doses). Moreover, there is a significant variation in the TL glow curves structure with increase in doses, which is undesirable for the use in dosimetry. However, with the use of very tiny particles such as nanoscale TLD materials, this problem is overcome to a major extent. The TL results of the recently reported nanomaterials have revealed very imperative characteristics such as high sensitivity and saturation at very high doses. Recent studies on different luminescent nanomaterials showed that they have a potential application in dosimetry of heavy charged particles using TL technique, where the conventional microcrystalline phosphors saturate. This paper is a review on the prepared TLD nanomaterials, studied for their TL response to HCP. These are CaSO4:Dy, LiF:Mg,Cu,P, K2Ca2(SO4)(3):Eu and Ba0.97Ca0.03SO4:Eu nanomaterials. The important results obtained in these nanomaterials and the possibility of using them as HCP dosimeters are discussed. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.