NaCl pellets for prospective dosimetry using optically stimulated luminescence: Signal integrity and long-term versus sh
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
NaCl pellets for prospective dosimetry using optically stimulated luminescence: Signal integrity and long‑term versus short‑term exposure Lovisa Waldner1 · Christopher Rääf1 · Christian Bernhardsson1 Received: 13 May 2020 / Accepted: 13 September 2020 / Published online: 23 September 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) signal properties of pellets from three types of NaCl (two household salts and one analytical grade salt) were investigated for their use in prospective dosimetry. Special attention was given to the OSL signal behaviour with time. The readout protocol was optimised in terms of preheat temperature, and the OSL signal yield of the NaCl pellet with time as well as the fading of the OSL signal with time was investigated. The effects of acute and chronic irradiations were compared. Irradiations and readout were performed using a Risø TL/OSL reader (TL/OSL-DA-15, DTU Nutech, Denmark). The optimal preheat temperature was determined to be 100 ºC, yielding OSL signals similar to a 1 h pause before OSL signal readout. There was no OSL signal fading observed as a function of time, but a decrease in the OSL signal yield of the NaCl pellets with time resulted in an apparent inverse fading when converting the OSL signal to an absorbed dose. For chronic radiation exposures of up to five weeks, the sensitivity of the NaCl pellets was found to be stable. The results of this study show that the use of NaCl pellets for prospective dosimetry is a promising, cost-effective, and accessible complement to commercially available alternatives for accurate absorbed dose determinations. Keywords OSL · Dosimetry · Salt · Fading · Extended exposures · Preheat
Introduction Prior studies on optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dosimetry involving luminescent materials have shown that ordinary household salt (NaCl) has potential applications both in retrospective dosimetry (Bailey et al. 2000; Bernhardsson et al. 2009; Spooner et al. 2011; Hunter et al. 2012; Ademola 2017) and prospective dosimetry (Bernhardsson et al. 2012; Ekendahl et al. 2016; Christiansson et al. 2018; Waldner and Bernhardsson 2018; Majgier et al. 2019). As NaCl is easily accessible all over the world, it could be an available and cost-effective complement to commercially available dosimeters in applications where a large number of dosimeters is needed or when there is a shortage of other available means for in situ or individual dosimetry. Such applications may include personal dosimetry and radiation * Lovisa Waldner [email protected] 1
Department of Translational Medicine, Medical Radiation Physics, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
dose assessments in hospitals, the nuclear industry, or research environments; environmental monitoring; and emergency preparedness. Compressing the NaCl into pellets simplifies handling, improves reproducibility, and further supports the potential use of NaCl for prospective OSL dosimetry. Some of the dosimetric properties of NaCl in pellet form have already
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