Optically stimulated luminescence dosimetry using doped lithium fluoride crystals

摘要

An optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dosimeter system. An OSL reader configured to produce data indicative of a radiation exposure, one or more OSL dosimeters fabricated from a thermoluminescent material, a light stimulation source configured to stimulate the OSL dosimeter to produce luminescence emissions, and a light-detection system that measures the intensity of such luminescence emissions and converts the electrical signal to a binary string that can be processed by an appropriately programmed computer configured to analyze data from the reader and produce data indicative of an extent of radiation exposure. Dose information is obtained without requiring heating of the dosimeter. The dosimeter can be interrogated multiple times with minimal loss of dose information.

主权项

1. An optically stimulated luminescent (OSL) dosimeter system, comprising:
an OSL dosimeter comprising a thermoluminescent phosphor material; an optical stimulation light source configured to provide a beam of optical stimulation light having a wavelength between 600 and 1100 nm to the OSL dosimeter; and an OSL reader, the OSL reader comprising:
a dosimeter holder configured to hold the OSL dosimeter for illumination by the optical stimulation light;a lens configured to receive and collimate the optical stimulation light and to direct it to the OSL dosimeter;at least one first optical filter configured to remove spurious wavelengths from the collimated optical stimulation light to produce a filtered optical stimulation light having a first desired wavelength and a desired intensity;at least one second optical filter configured to receive the OSL emission from the OSL dosimeter and to remove spurious wavelengths from the optical stimulation light to produce a filtered OSL emission; anda photodetector configured to receive the filtered OSL emission from the dosimeter and to output data indicative of an intensity of the OSL emission produced by the thermoluminescent phosphor material, the intensity of the OSL emission being indicative of an extent of exposure of the OSL dosimeter to ionizing radiationthe dosimeter holder, the lens, the first optical filter, the second optical filter, and the photodetector all being situated in a light-tight housing to prevent light other than the filtered OSL emission from entering the photodetector; wherein the filtered optical stimulation light illuminates the thermoluminescent phosphor material in the OSL dosimeter and causes the thermoluminescent phosphor material to produce an OSL emission as it is being stimulated by the filtered optical stimulation light, a speed of a production of the OSL emission being controllable by controlling an intensity of the optical stimulation light; and wherein the thermoluminescent phosphor material produces the OSL emission without a change in its temperature after its illumination by the filtered optical stimulation light.