On the resolution of overlapping peaks in complex thermoluminescence glow curves

Experimental Thermoluminescence (TL) glow curves for most dosimetric materials are composites, consisting of weakly or strongly overlapping peaks. The ability to discriminate between two overlapping peaks defines the resolution of a TL glow curve. Although the concept of resolution has been defined and used widely in many areas of science, there have been no previous attempts to define and study the resolution of overlapping TL peaks. In this work the resolution parameter R is defined in terms of the geometrical characteristics of TL peaks. A large number of TL glow curves consisting of two peaks were numerically evaluated for various degrees of overlapping between them. These numerically generated glow curves were analyzed by a computerized glow curve deconvolution analysis, in order to determine the reliability of the deconvolution results as a function of the resolution parameter R.