Synthesis and preliminary OSL studies of NaCaPO4:Ce phosphor for radiation dosimetry

Polycrystalline NaCaPO4:Ce phosphor samples were successfully synthesized by solid-state diffusion and sol-gel methods. The structural properties of the prepared phosphors were evaluated via an X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. The XRD patterns match well with the International Center for Diffraction Data (ICDD) file and the synthesis methods did not affect the XRD patterns. The NaCa(1-x)PO4:xCe (x = 0.001, 0.002 and 0.005 mol) phosphor shows excellent optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) properties under gamma irradiation prepared by using solid-state diffusion and sol-gel methods. The OSL sensitivity of NaCaPO4:Ce phosphor prepared using the solid-state diffusion method was higher than that of the NaCaPO4:Ce phosphor prepared by the sol-gel method. The minimum detectable dose of NaCaPO4:Ce phosphor was calculated and found to be 0.470 mGy for the solid-state diffusion method and 1.118 mGy for the sol-gel method. The photoluminescence (PL) excitation and emission spectra were observed at 383 and 321 nm, respectively. The optimal PL intensity was obtained at 0.001 mol of Ce ion. The effective atomic number (Z (eff)) of NaCaPO4:Ce is 14.63 and the phosphor is a candidate for radiation dosimetry.