Thermoluminescent

Dosimeters
Aglaia Matsika

Prof. T.E. Cocolios, N. Severijns

 OUTLINE

I. THERMOLUMINESCENT DOSIMETERS

II.OPTICALLY STIMULATED LUMINESCENT

DOSIMETERS

III. IMAGE PLATES

IV. REFERENCES
I. Thermoluminescent
Dosimeters
Luminescence: Emission of light by relatively cool materials after the
absorption of ionizing radiation.

Thermoluminscence (TL): Thermally stimulated emission of light

from insulators or semiconductors, following the absorption of ionizing
radiation. The mechanism is based on the existence of traps.

Traps are impurities of the crystal that can be either intrinsic or

deliberately added to alter the properties of the material (doping).

Why do we need traps in TLDs?

Electrons and holes are trapped until the TLD is readout (even after
months)
energy storage!
Mechanism:
Absorption of ionizing radiation
Excitation of electrons from valence band to conduction band
Creation of holes in valence band that may be trapped in hole traps
De-excited electrons trapped in trapping centers (impurities) in
forbidden gap
Upon heating electrons are released and recombined with trapped
holes in recombination centers emitting visible light

Fig.1: echanism of thermoluminescence (N. G. Debelo)

The same procedure can take place for holes as well

TLD materials act as integrating detectors where the number of

trapped electrons and holes is a measurement of the number of
electron-hole pairs created by the radiation absorbed. For every
pair created one photon is emitted

Total number of photons number of electron-hole pairs

Readout process: The material is heated and the signal
derived is
viewed by a photomultiplier tube that is then digitised by an
analog-to-digital converter

Fig.2: Schematics of TLD readout process (IAEA)

Glow curves:
Light intensity as a function of temperature
As the temperature increases the probability of releasing e
increases
The area under the TL glow curve is directly proportional to the
number of emitted photons and, thereby, proportional to radiation
dose absorbed

Fig.3: Thermoluminescent glow curve for LiF:Mg,Ti.The individual glow

peaks are numbered and correspond to different trap depths
(DeWerd and Stoebe 1972)
Thermoluminescent materials:

LiF most popular because of its similarity to soft tissue () and its
linearity over a wide dose range (up to 10 Gy)

Neutron sensitivity:
Because natural lithium contains 7.4% 6Li, TLD detectors made from
LiF will be somewhat sensitive to slow neutrons. This response can
be enhanced by using lithium enriched in 6Li, or suppressed by using
lithium consisting entirely of the 7Li isotope
Advantages:
Reusability. After the sample is raised to high temperatures all the
trapping centers are depleted.
Small size
Large range of measurable doses (from about 1 Gy to 10kGy)
Simple readout
Almost tissue equivalent
Insensitivity to visible light, humidity and most laboratory fumes

Disadvantages:
No permanent record/ can only be read once
No instantaneous result
Fading
 II. Optically stimulated
luminescence Dosimeters
ptically stimulated luminescence (OSL): Instead of heating the
sample a strong light source (laser) or light-emitting diode adds
energy to the trapped electrons which then de-excite through
luminescence states

2 ways of readout

Continuous Pulsed source

source

Delayed OSL Pulsed OSL

Long-lived Short-lived
luminescence centres luminescence
centres
dvantages:
Optical readout method without heating
igh sensitivity well below that of other TLD materials (a few Gy)
Independent measurement of absorbed dose can be made later
Fast readout process by adjusting the stimulating light intensity
Less sensitive to environmental conditions

Disadvantages:
High cost
on tissue-equivalent
Sensitivity to visible light
No neutron sensitivity so far
III. Image Plates
Image plates (storage phosphors): Position-sensitive detectors
layered with phosphor for detection of X-rays instead of the
conventional film screen.
Used in Medical Radiography
Most used BaFBr:Eu+2 high Z

Mechanism:
Incident X-ray photons absorbed by the phosphor crystals excite
electrons
Electrons are trapped. The stored energy forms a latent image
A laser beam scans the plate. Release of energy in the form of
light photons
Light intensity as a function of the position of the laser spot
Photons converted to electric current by high sensitivity
photomultiplier tube. The analogue electrical signal is then digitised
 High spatial resolution for thin layers of phosphor but low
efficiency!

Other cases of ionizing radiation imaging that have been recorded

Alpha particles Fast electrons Thermal neutrons

Also used for very weak radioactivity long exposure periods

Advantages:
Reusability. Exposure to intense light erases the plate
Linear response over a wide dose range
The processing enables the technologist to change the image
optical density after image capture and hence avoiding another
exposure to the patient
Fig.4: Scheme of a computed radiography (CR) plate reader (Radiologykey.com)
IV. REFERENCES
1. G.F. Knoll, Radiation Protection and Measurement, 3rd edition, (2000)
2. F.H. Attix, Introduction to Radiological Physics and Radiation Dosimetry, (1986)
3. T.M. Piters, A study into the mechanism of thermoluminescence in a LiF:Mg,Ti
dosimetry material, Delft, (1993)
4. N.G. Debelo, The role of trap depth and trap centers in thermoluminescence from
semiconductor nanostructures, Ethiopia, (2012)
5. S.N. Ahmed, Physics and Engineering of Radiation Detection, Ontario, (2007)
6. L.A. DeWerd, Ph.D., FAAPM L. Bartol and S. Davis, Thermoluminescence
Dosimetry (presentation), University of Wisconsin ADCL Madison
7. J.E.Cygler and E. Yukihara, Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dosimetry in
radiotherapy (presentation)
8. S.W.S. McKeever and M. Moscovitch, Topics under debate: On the advantages and
disadvantages of optically stimulated luminescenesce dosimetry and
thermoluminescence dosimetry, USA, (2003)
9. L. Boetter-Jensen, S.W.S. McKeever, A.G. Wintle, Optically Stimulated Luminescence
Dosimetry, USA, (2003)
10. IAEA, part V: Assessment of external and internal exposures (other than medical) Module
V.1,Lecture 2
11. L.A. DeWerd and T.G. Stoebe, The emission spectrum of LiF (TLD-100) at low and high
exposure, Physics in Medicine and Biology, (1972)
Thank you

Questions??