Thermoluminescence and its applications: an introduction

A brief discussion of the theoretical and experimental aspects of thermoluminescence (TL) is given. This is followed by a description of the application of TL to radiation dosimetry, archaeological dating and meteorite research. The final section of the paper deals with a variety of experiments involving TL which might be undertaken in undergraduate or postgraduate laboratory sessions. These include simple dosimetry experiments and more sophisticated projects involving the determination of various trapping parameters for a given phosphor. (author)