A New Hypersensitive Thermoluminophor Based on the CaF2

A new hypersensitive thermoluminophor, called CaF2:Cu, prepared at the Moscow State University, has been studied with respect to chemical composition, crystal structure, luminescence and dosimetric properties. The vitreous detector pellets contain holmium (Ho) in a concentration that indicates the dopant character of this element. The dose characteristic shows a linear shape in the range between 10-6 and 10 Gy and the TL response is γ160 times higher than that of LiF-TLD-100. This high sensitivity permits precise low dose measurements after short irradiation periods. Furthermore, the high thermal, chemical and mechanical stability enables multiple use of the detectors. The investigations on glow curve and luminescence emissions permit the proposal of an energy level scheme for this new thermoluminophor. (author)