Characterization of α-spodumene to OSL dosimetry

• Published in: Radiation physics and chemistry (Oxford, England : 1993) England : 1993), 2014-02, Vol.95, p.141-144
• Main Authors: d'Amorim, R.A.P.O., de Vasconcelos, D.A.A., de Barros, V.S.M., Khoury, H.J., Souza, S.O.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Dosimetry; Optically stimulated luminescence; Spodumene
• ISSN: 0969-806X; 1879-0895
• DOI: 10.1016/j.radphyschem.2013.01.029

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) response of spodumene (LiAlSi2O6) silicate and its potential use for gamma radiation dosimetry. A natural Brazilian crystal of α-spodumene was used in this study. After the crystal grinding, pellets with the diameter of 6.0mm were prepared using a mixture of α-spodumene and polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon®) (1:2). To study the OSL response, the samples were irradiated with gamma radiation beam of Co-60 and the response was measured using an OSL Reader in two modes of operation: Continuous-wave and pulsed stimulation. The results of the integrated OSL curve of the pellets irradiated with the dose of 30Gy showed that their response is reproducible within ±2%. The variation of the OSL response upon the dose exhibits a linear response in the range from 30Gy to 10kGy, with a correlation coefficient of 0.99. It is possible to conclude that the α-LiAlSi2O6/Teflon® has a great potential for OSL dosimetry of high gamma doses. ► The α-spodumene can be exploited for high-doses OSL dosimetry. ► The α-spodumene has linear OSL response over the dose range from 30Gy to 10kGy. ► The reproducibility of the OSL response of α-spodumene/Teflon® pellets is 2.1%.