Dosimetric properties of sintered LiF : Mg, Cu, Na, Si TL detectors

Selected dosimetric properties of sintered LiF : Mg, Cu, Na, Si detectors w ere studied. Solid LiF : Mg, Cu, Na, Si pellets of diameters 4.5 mm and thi ckness 0.9 mm, dark blue in colour, were obtained by cold pressing and sint ering the powder at 820 degreesC. The dosimetric properties of the newly de veloped detectors were studied and compared with the properties of LiF : Mg , Cu, P pellets (MCP-N). The annealing conditions were the same as those us ed for MCP-N detectors. X-ray exposures were performed at the KAERI, Taejon , Korea, while other irradiation and readout were carried out at the INP in Krakow, Poland. The glow-curve structure of LiF : Mg, Cu, Na, Si pellets is found to be com parable to that of MCP-N (LiF : Mg, Cu, P) detectors but the absolute sensi tivity is about 50% lower. The photon energy response after doses of X-rays of energy about 100 keV shows a decrease, similar to that in LiF : Mg, Cu, P. For lower energies the response is higher than that for LiF : Mg, Cu, P due to the presence of high-Z elements (Na, Cu, and Si). The relative TL e fficiency after doses of alpha particles from an Am-214 source of the sinte red LiF : Mg, Cu, Na, Si detectors is similar to that of MCP-N (LiF : Mg, C u, P). (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.