Theoretical and experimental analysis of sensitivity of thermoluminescent aluminophosphate glasses to fast neutrons

The energy transferred from fast neutrons to a thermoluminescent aluminophosphate glass was calculated; the energy was calculated separately, transferred as kinetic energy of different secondary charged particles, as was the total energy liberated during neutron interactions in the glass. The analysis of the results obtained showed that the total energy transferred to the glass is substantially lower than that transferred from fast neutrons to tissue. A comparison of the theoretically and experimentally obtained values of the relative response of the glass to the neutrons from common neutron sources shows that also the thermoluminescence yield is lower after fast neutron energy absorption than after gamma energy absorption. An attempt was made to increase this response by using an external proton emitter with thinner glass; the results obtained are also presented. (author)