Heating of continuous thermoluminescent layers with localised laser beams

Thin uniform continuous layers of thermoluminescent materials are convenient dosemeter configurations for laser-heated thermoluminescence dosimetry. Rapid heating of a small circular spot determined by the Gaussian laser beam profile together with thermal diffusion yields characteristic glow curve shapes. The complex spatio-temporal behaviour of the thermoluminescence emission, which results from this particular situation of heat transfer and diffusion, was calculated as a function of time and compared with experimental data. (author)