Developing nanocrystalline thin film based radiation dosimeter

Radiation dosimetry is an important field of research due to its potential in various applications like food safety, personal dosimetry, environmental monitoring, radiation therapy, etc [1]. In general, most radiation dosimetric studies are related with electromagnetic radiation (γ radiation, UV radiation, etc.). However, the increased use of hadron therapy (radiation therapy using charged particles) in cancer and tumor treatment demands inclusion of ion beam dosimetry study for radiation dosimetry [2]. In this regard, it is a need to develop novel dosimeters with thin films for online monitoring of the radiation dose delivered to patient. In contrast to powder sample based dosimeter, here very less material will be required demanding very high sensitive phosphors. Aluminium oxide (Al₂O₃) (specially, carbon doped) can be a good choice due to its very high thermoluminescence (TL) sensitivity [2]. Moreover, this material is considered to be the best material for optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), a suitable radiation dosimetric technique for online monitoring. Regarding thin films, choice of substrate is always a matter of interest. Here, a comprehensive radiation dosimetric study of as-grown and annealed Al₂O₃ deposited on different substrates (i.e. silicon, Al foil, kapton tape, etc) by using RF magnetron sputtering and anodized porous Al₂O₃ will be presented. The variation in radiation response will be discussed in the light of detailed structural and optical properties analysis of the said thin films [3].
1. Thermoluminescence of solids, SWS Mckeever, Cambridge university press, 1988.
2. G. O. Sawakuchi et al. J. Appl. Phys. 104 (2008) 124903.
3. W. L. Xu et al. Appl. Phys. Lett. 85 (2004) 4364.