Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · 1999 · 565 citations · 0 references
MedicineMaterials EngineeringMaterials ScienceOptical MaterialsRadiation DetectionRadiation DosimetryLuminescent MaterialsOptical DetectorsOptical SpectroscopyOptically Stimulated Luminescence DosimetryPhoton DosimetryThermoluminescent DosimetryDelayed LuminescenceEnvironmental Radiation DosimetryEnvironmental Radiation MonitoringMedical Dosimetry ApplicationsOptically Stimulated Luminescence DosimetersThermoluminescent DosimetersThermoluminescent MaterialsVisible Light Sensitivity
Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dosimetry is attractive to the health physics and dosimetry community due to its all-optical character, fast data acquisition and the avoidance of heating the detector. Until recently there was no luminescent material sensitive enough to radiation, and at the same time suitable for stimulation with visible light, for use in this application. However, anion-deficient aluminum oxide doped with carbon (Al<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>3</SUB>:C) appears to be not only an extremely sensitive thermoluminescence (TL) material, but is also well-suited to OSL applications. Several OSL readout protocols have been suggested, including cw-OSL, pulsed OSL (POSL), and 'delayed' OSL (DOSL). The paper discusses the physical mechanisms that give rise to the OSL signals and the dependence of these signals upon absorbed dose. Example applications of the use of OSL from Al<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>3</SUB>:C in environmental radiation and ultraviolet-B dosimetry are discussed.