Semiconductor-diode-aided dosimetry of the irradiation of pourable bulk material

The irradiation of unpackaged pourable bulk material requires the employment of a dosimeter which can be readily transported along with the material. Planar diffused silicon diodes have been found to be suitable for this purpose. To date these have been used solely for the purpose of dose rate measurements; however, it can be shown that the permanent change in reverse recover time at the p-n junction correlates with the absorbed irradiation dose in the range up to 10 kGy. Appropriate selection of the diode and thermal treatment lead to a linear dependence and enable the silicon dosimeter to be reused. (author). 16 refs, 4 figs