Thermoluminescence properties of home-made CaSO4:Dy For Dosimetry Purposes

Dysprosium doped Calcium Sulfate (CaSO4:Dy) had been first prepared by Yamashita in 1968 with method based on acid evaporation in an open system, which pose human health risks, corrosion and pollution to the environment due to sulfuric acid vapor. It has found increasing use in various applications in the field of radiation dosimetry due to their ease of preparation as compared to many other sensitive TL materials. Many researchers emphasized that the grain size and impurities influence the relative intensities of the broad glow peaks as well as overall sensitivities. In this paper, we introduce a new method of preparation for avoiding all of these disadvantages and improving the main TL materials properties, which required for dosimetric use. The main TL characteristics of home-made CaSO4:Dy .crystals with different concentrations are investigated alter the preparation and heat treatment conditions. The results indicated a linear response from 5μ .Gy up to 10 Gy with the highest sensitivity obtained at 0.25 mol % and optimum sensitivity at less than 75 jam grain sizes. Three peaks at 137 degree C, 222 degree C and 311 degree C were obtained. We conclude to use our home-made prepared CaSO4:Dy with 0.25 mol % concentration for gamma-ray dosimetry as more sensitive and cheaper than commercial phosphor (TLD-900). This will increase the routine and research work in the area of TL dosimetry