Thermoluminescent detectors for neutron dosimetry at high altitudes

At high altitudes in the earth's atmosphere cosmic-ray induced neutrons become the dominant contributors to the biologically relevant dose equivalent. Depending on the geomagnetic latitude and the solar activity cycle, neutron dose onboard aircraft amounts, for example, to roughly 50 to 70 % of the overall dose equivalent. Neutron detection in complexly mixed radiation environments by means of active, i.e. power-consuming, detectors is commonly aggravated by the fact that a variety of charged particles present in the field cannot be discriminated and therefore biases the measurement. Passive thermoluminescent dosemeters (TLDs) are proposed as a convenient alternative. They are easy-to-handle in practical use, contain no flammable gases and emit no electromagnetic radiation that could interfere with sensitive electronics. The simultaneous application of specific detector types is known in neutron dosimetry as the pair method. Neutron-sensitive TLD-600 (6LiF) is combined with TLD-700 (7LiF) which is almost insensitive to neutrons. The sensitivity for all other radiations is identical for both types, so that a simple subtraction of the measured detector signals leads to the thermal neutron dose. As the neutron cross sections of 6Li and 7Li differ significantly only below 200 keV, the pair method in its conventional form assesses the dose only from neutrons in this energy region. The method can be extended for utilization at high altitudes, such as onboard aircraft, if the calibration of the TLDs is performed in a reference field which simulates in close proximity the atmospheric neutron environment. For our purposes we used the CERN-EU High-Energy Reference Field (CERF) for which the relative contribution of neutrons with energies below 200 keV to the entire fluence is practically the same as for the cosmic-ray induced neutron spectrum. Measurements with Bonner sphere spectrometers at the CERF facility and onboard aircraft and subsequent comparison with a FLUKA Monte Carlo calculation verified the similarity of both spectra. The extended pair method was successfully applied during extensive in-flight measurements as well as on top of high-altitude mountains. Comparison of the results with other neutron detection instruments such as rem counters and superheated emulsion detectors demonstrates the suitability of TLDs as radiation monitoring devices onboard aircraft. (author)