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ARTICLE |
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Year : 2011 | Volume
: 34
| Issue : 1 | Page : 34-36 |
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Development of doped fused quartz for radiation dosimetry
Rujuta Barve1, RR Patil1, NP Gaikwad2, BC Bhatt2, SV Moharil3, MS Kulkarni2
1 Institute of Science R.T. Road Civil Lines Nagpur, India 2 Radiation Safety Systems Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India 3 R.T.M Nagpur University Nagpur, India
Date of Web Publication | 17-Mar-2012 |
Correspondence Address: Rujuta Barve Institute of Science R.T. Road Civil Lines Nagpur India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |

Cu + was doped in fused quartz using simple technique and the OSL and TL was studied. The doped quartz shows enhanced TL as well as OSL sensitivity. Its OSL sensitivity is 0.33 of Al 2 O 3 : C (Landauer Inc., USA) with blue light (470 nm) stimulation. Since natural quartz is being used for archaeological dating due to its good retentivity of the stored signal, doped fused quartz will be a promising phosphor for its use in radiation dosimetry using OSL technique. Keywords: Thermoluminescence, CW-OSL, PL
How to cite this article: Barve R, Patil R R, Gaikwad N P, Bhatt B C, Moharil S V, Kulkarni M S. Development of doped fused quartz for radiation dosimetry. Radiat Prot Environ 2011;34:34-6 |
How to cite this URL: Barve R, Patil R R, Gaikwad N P, Bhatt B C, Moharil S V, Kulkarni M S. Development of doped fused quartz for radiation dosimetry. Radiat Prot Environ [serial online] 2011 [cited 2019 Dec 10];34:34-6. Available from: http://www.rpe.org.in/text.asp?2011/34/1/34/93941 |
1. Introduction | |  |
Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) is a relatively new technique in radiation dosimetry for detection and measurement of ionizing radiation. In OSL the defects are stimulated by the light in the visible region and as a result of release of either electron or hole and subsequent capture at the recombination centre leads to emission of light which is generally lower in wavelength compared to the stimulating light. OSL was first used in archaeological dating (Huntley et al, 1985), and later proposed for personnel monitoring and environmental monitoring with the development of Al 2 O 3 : C TL/OSL phosphor (Akselrod et al, 1990; 1999). More recently OSL from Borate and Silicate glasses doped with Cerium, Europium, Samarium ions have been reported. (Qiu et al, 1997a; 1997b). OSL has been observed previously in natural and synthetic quartz materials (Justus et al, 1997; Bøtter-Jensen et al., 2003) and has been used as a technique for geological / archaeological dating (Bøtter-Jensen 2003), with natural quartz and feldspars as the basic materials. Since the retentivity of stored information in metastable states in these materials is well known, the increase in sensitivity, through synthesis of the material, may lead to development of a highly sensitive OSL phosphor which may find applications in radiation dosimetry. With this objective an attempt is made to dope fused quartz with Cu + ions and the effect of doping on OSL/TL properties was also studied. This paper describes the synthesis of Cu doped fused quartz and the effect of doping on TL/OSL properties.
2. Experimental | |  |
Fused quartz plates were cleaned with hydrochloric acid and subsequently washed several times with distilled water. These plates were dried and then dipped in a suspension of CuF 2 in water. The water was then dried off so that all the CuF 2 particles get deposited on quartz plates. The plates were then heated in tubular furnace at 800°C for three hours and then cooled by switching off the power to the furnace. These plates were washed again with Hydrochloric acid and then with water to remove the unreacted CuF 2 on the surface of plates. The washed plates were dried and then ground in mortar, sieved to the 90-210 micron particle size. The amount of CuF 2 in suspension was taken 50 mole percent with respect to quartz. Such high amount is necessary because only fraction of Cu diffuses in the plates. The TL readouts were taken on the BARC developed TL reader system. The OSL measurements were carried out using blue / green LED based CW-OSL measurement setup (Kulkarni et al, 2007). The photoluminescence measurements were carried out on Hitachi F4000 spectrofluorometer. All the samples were gamma irradiated with 60 Co source with dose of 0.5 Gy.
3. Results | |  |
[Figure 1] shows the photoluminescence spectra of Cu + doped samples. The emission band is observed at 395nm [Figure 1]b with the excitation at 247 nm [Figure 1]a. The undoped quartz does not show any emission hence it can be concluded that the emission band is due to 3d 9 4s 1→ 3d 10 transition of copper. The photoluminescence of Cu + in fused quartz is reported earlier at 550 nm (Justus et al, 1999a; 1999b). However, the diffusion is carried out at 1100°C. As it is well known that quartz undergoes structural changes with temperature and therefore temperature of diffusion is very important factor. When the diffusion of Cu + was done at 900°C we observed the changes in emission band. The emission is observed at 520 nm [Figure 2]b with the excitation shifting to 254 nm [Figure 2]a. At this temperature the quartz changes to Tridymite phase and hence this emission could be attributed in Tridymite phase. | Figure 2: Photoluminescence spectra of SiO2: Cu+ for diffusion of Cu+ done at 900°C
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[Figure 3] shows the TL glow curves for doped sample as well as un-doped sample. The TL peak for the doped sample is observed at 160°C and 350°C [Figure 3]a whereas in case of un-doped sample only one peak is observed at 160°C [Figure 3]b . The doped sample shows the enhancement in TL intensity as compared to the TL intensity of the un-doped sample. The dosimetric peak of doped sample is 1.5 times than that of the dosimetric peak of un-doped sample. [Figure 4] shows the CW-OSL curve of doped quartz (curve b) and Al 2 O 3 :C (curve a), Landauer samples, for blue light (470 nm) stimulation. The CW-OSL response is 20 times greater than that of un-doped sample (not shown). The inset shows the normalized OSL curve of doped quartz and Al 2 O 3 :C. The decay of luminescence of doped quartz is faster as compared with Al 2 O 3 : C and the OSL signal peak intensity is 0.33 times the OSL peak intensity of Al 2 O 3 : C. Due to faster decay of CW-OSL signal in doped quartz, comparison of OSL intensity could be carried out by initial OSL intensity measurements (i.e. luminescence averaged over first 1s). Thus, on comparing the initial intensity for integration carried out up to 1 second, it is observed that integrated area for doped quartz is 23.1% of that observed for the commercial alumina. | Figure 3: TL pattern of of SiO2 (a) doped with Cu+ sample as well as (b) undoped sample
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 | Figure 4: CW-OSL response of SiO2: Cu (b) and Al2O3: C (a) Landauer (Inset shows normalized CW-OSL response)
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4. Conclusion | |  |
The results show that there is enhancement of OSL as well as TL in Cu + doped quartz. Faster decay of CW-OSL in doped quartz as compared to Al 2 O 3 : C indicates higher cross-section of OSL active traps in this material. The OSL peak intensity signal was found to be 33% compared to that of Al 2 O 3 :C. The chemical inertness and low fading of signal coupled with relatively good OSL sensitivity, the Cu + doped quartz could become a potential material for radiation dosimetry using OSL technique. Further efforts for optimization of the OSL sensitivity of Cu doped quartz are underway.
5. Acknowledgements | |  |
The authors are grateful to BRNS for funding this work. The authors are also grateful to Dr. D.N. Sharma, Head, Radiation Safety Systems Division, BARC for the encouragement during the course of this work.
6. References | |  |
- Bøtter-Jensen L., McKeever S.W.S. and Wintle A.G., Optically Stimulated Luminescence, Elsevier, Oxford, 2003.
- Akselrod M.S., Kortov V.S., Kravetsky D.J.and V.I.Gotlib (1990), Radiat. Prot. Dosim., 32, 15.
- Akselrod M.S. and McKeever S.W.S. (1999), Radiat. Prot. Dosim., 81, 167.
- Huntley D.J., Godfrey-Smith D.I. and Thewatt M.L.W. (1985), Nature, 313, 105.
- Justus B.L., Rychnovsky S., Miller M.A., Pawlovich K.J. and Huston A.L. (1997), Radiat. Prot. Dosim., 74, 151-154.
- Justus B.L., Merritt C.D., Pawlovich K.J., Huston A.L. and S. Rychnovsky S. (1999a), Radiat. Prot. Dosim., 84, 189-192.
- Justus B.L., Merritt C.D., Pawlovich K.J., Huston A.L. and Rychnovsky S. (1999b), Radiat. Prot. Dosim., 81, 5-10.
- Kulkarni M.S., Mishra D.R. and Sharma D.N. (2007), Nucl. Instrum. Meth., B262, 348-356
- Qiu J., Shimizugawa, Y., Iwabuchi, Y. and Hirao, K. (1997a), Appl. Phys. Lett., 71, 43-45.
- Qiu J., Shimizugawa Y., Sugimoto N. and Hirao K. (1997b), J. Non-Crystal. Solids, 222, 290-295.
[Figure 1], [Figure 2], [Figure 3], [Figure 4]
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