Photo-stimulated luminescence of KCl:Eu under X-ray and ion irradiation

We compared the photo-stimulated luminescence (PSL) process of storage phosphor KCl:Eu under the irradiation of X-ray, 2.0 MeV H+ ions and 2.0 MeV He+ ions. The purpose of the irradiation of H+ and He+ ions was to mimic the irradiation effects of neutrons. in each case, it was revealed that F-centers were involved in the PSL process. We observed an entirely different fluence-dependent PSL behavior between the X-ray and the ion irradiation, whereas the behavior of the F-center absorption was quite similar. This difference was due to the different yields of the trapping sites for the electrons liberated from the F-centers, and the difference in the yield was ascribed to the difference in the excitation density. This result clearly indicated a marked difference in the PSL process under X-ray and neutron irradiations and indicated that the analysis of the PSL process under ion irradiation is highly important for the application of PSL phosphors to neutron radiography. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.