Study of thermoluminescence properties of Eppawala apatite mineral and its suitability as a dosimetric material

This study reports TL properties and the dosimetric properties of natural apatite mineral obtained from Eppawala Apatite ore in Sri Lanka. This mineral was used to study glow curve characteristics by using (a) the powder form of the raw mineral (b) sieved raw mineral and (c) the magnetically separated mineral. The glow curves of magnetically separated apatite showed two peaks. Low temperature peak at 120C, and a high temperature peak at 240C. The emission wavelength of the glow curve is 360 nm. The intensity of the 240C peak become stronger after annealing the mineral to about 180C. Apatite has glow peaks similar to other commonly used TL materials, such as synthetically prepared calcium sulphate:Dy and calcium sulphate:Tm show high intensity peak at 220C and low intensity peaks at 80C and 120C. However, the emission wavelengths of the main peaks are at 428nm and 452 nm for calcium sulphate:Dy and calcium sulphate: Tm respectively. Eppawala apatite mineral showed a linear response to both gamma and beta radiation doses. The results of this study show that there is a fare potential to develop a dosimetric material from Eppawala natural apatite mineral. However, further work has to be carried out to determine the energy response, linearity range of the dose response curve and fading. Finally, the apatite should be fabricated to a chip for use as a dosimeter