COMPUTERISED GLOW CURVE DECONVOLUTION:APPLICATION TO ‘THERMOLUMINESCENCE DOSIMETRY YS. Horowitz and D. Yossian Physics Department, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheva, Israel INTRODUCTION Computerised glow curve fitting methods (CGCD) used to improve the dosimetric applications of thermoluminescence have come of age. A recent monograph (1) outlines the glow curve deconvolution of various TLD materials and then discusses the many and varied applications to dosimetry. These include: dramatic improvements in precision and minimum measureable dose, dose re- estimation using photouransferred thermoluminescence (PTTL), simultaneous estimation of dose and elapsed time following irradiation, estimation of fading and sensitivity corrections, optimal annealing procedures, mixed field beta/gamma and neutron/gamma dosimetry, and various quality control applications at both the growth, material characterization and readout stages. At Ben Gurion University we are currently investigating some of the more recent developments in CGCD concerning quality control and neutron/gamma dosimetry. In addition, we present some preliminary results concerning abnormai glow curves obtained for low energy x-rays and beta rays due to oxygen contamination during 4000C in air annealing. These latter results should be of concern to users involved in superficial dose estimation using LiF- TLD. CGCD APPLIED TO QUALITY CONTROL This application, although still in its infancy (2), is potentially one of the most. important applications of CGCD. One can envisage important materia selection improvements in the manufacturing stage of the material, in the manufacturer's quality contro! of the final product and in the final stage of glow curve readout involving verification of dose data as well as diagnostics of the reader malfunctions. The final stage is especially important since glow curve analysis automatically involves a form of permanent storage of the dose formation and completely answers one of the complaints in the use of TLD regarding a permanent record of the dose information. For these reasons many operational dosimetrists have become enthusiastic proponents of glow curve storage in order to be able to test for abnormalities and dose verification. Hoot and Landrum (3) were the first to publish a library of error conditions to be verified by glow curve analysis. Liu et al (4) in their study of the optimization of the readout procedures for the Harshaw 8800 automatic TL dosimetry system, report occasional irregular glow curves of thin TLD-700 dosemeters which were easily identified by the CGCD routine currently operative in the 8800 system. Tan et al (5) are developing computerized programs to screen for abnormal LiF glow curves. Bos et al (6), studied the kinetic, trapping parameters of different Harshaw Production batches. This study has a direct relevance to the question of production quality control and the non- universality of dosimetric properties in Harshaw LiF products. Generally, users request uniform sensitivity in batch selection and ignore details of glow curve shape. It is clear that users interested in maintaining dosimetric characteristics over the years in their procurement of dosimetric material should specify not only overall batch sensitivities but also should place specifications on glow curve shapes. At Ben Gurion University we have studied how to retrieve dosimetric information from distorted glow curves using CGCD (2). Fig.1 illustrates a type of distortion involving distortion over a temperature range of approximately 20°C in the maximum of peak 5 in a "four-glow-peak glow curve" 4-29310 10° 8010! 60 10° ‘TL Intensity 40.107 20 108 380 390307550 TIk) Figure 1. Gamma induced glow Curve of TLD-100 illustrating system rmalfunciion in the central portion of peak S.( + ) experimental The analysis of the glow curve was carried out by excluding the distorted region from the computerised fitting procedure. In this particular exercize, and for demonstration purposes, this exclusion procedure is carried out by visual inspection. It is no problem to configure the fitting procedure to automatically identify and exclude the distorted regions. The results of the computerised analysis in all the cases studied allowed us to retrieve the dosimetric information to an accuracy of better than 2%. CGCD APPLIED TO NEUTRON-GAMMA DOSIMETRY This application has been discussed in detail by Horowitz and Yossian (1). The dominance of TLDs in the personal dosimetry of photons and beta rays suggests that further efforts must be invested in the use of TLDs in fast neutron environments simply because of the increasing availability of automated TL facilities in nuclear, medical and industrial installations where fast neutron dosimetry is a subject of continuing concern. Most previous applications centered ’on the use of TLDs in albedo dosimetry or in the use of the fast- neutron-sensitive high temperature glow peaks in LiF:Mg,Ti, but these approaches suffer from several disadvantages. At Ben Gurion University we are currently studying the possibility of the application of peak 4/5 ratios in the glow curve of TLD-600 in the separation of gamma and neutron dose. A typical glow curve following fast neutron irradiation is shown in Fig. 2.0 107 TL Intensity beste des T [K] Figure 2. Glow curve of TLD-600 following fast-neutron irradiation 4-294The ratio of peak 4/peak 5 is approximately 15% compared to approximately 30% following gamma irradiation, The success of this technique depends critically on the reproducibility of these 4/5 ratios which is the subject of our current investigations. CGCD APPLIED TO SURFACE DOSE ESTIMATION Dosimetric measurements of low energy radiation using LiF-TLD may be subject to difficulties due to surface contamination by OH" ions during 400°C air- annealing. Differences in the TL efficiency between air and N2 annealing have been well documented in the literature (7), but not much attention has been given to glow curve analysis. A typical glow curve of TLD-100 following irradiation by ©3Ni beta rays (air-annealing) is shown in Fig. 3. The intensity of the low temperature peaks 2-3 is greatly enhanced relative to peak 5, and in addition, new low-temperature peaks appear. Similar glow curves have been obtained following 3H or alpha-particle irradiation. The effect increases with subsequent air-anneals and is totally absent when the chips are annealed in N2. Dosimetrists involved in superficial dose estimation of low-energy radiations, should, therefore, pay especial care to the purity of the Nz atmosphere used in the high temperature annealing procedure and during readout. Changes in sensitivity to low energy-radiation may occur which will not be detected by high energy, volumetric, calibration. 1.0108 4 ° Ni > 8010? _ 4 @ E=17.2 keV 5 3 2 sow 2 3 & 4010 20108 0 320 ais 510 605 700 TIKI Figure 3. Glow curve of TLD-100 following ©3Ni Beta irradiation REFERENCES 1. Y.S. Horowitz and D. Yossian, “Computerised glow curve deconvolution:Application to thermoluminescence dosimetry", Radiat. Prot. Dosim., 60, 1-114 (1995). 2.D, Yossian, and Y.S. Horowitz, In Proc. 11th Int. Conf. Solid State Dosimetry, Budapest, 1995; Radiat. Prot. Dos., in press 3. SS. Hoots and V. Landrum, Health Phys., 43, 905-912 (1982). 4. J. Liv, C.S. Sims and T.A. Rhea, Radiat. Prot. Management, 6, 55-70 (1980). 5. Y. Tan, J.E, Rotunda, K.J.Velbeck, and R.A. Tawil, Abstract TAM-A3, p. S11, In 39th Annual Meeting of the Health Phys. Soc., Health Phys., 66, Suppl. 1 (1994). 6.. A.J.J. Bos, T.M.Piters, W.de Vries, and J.E. Hoogenboom, Radiat. Prot. Dos., 33, 7- 10 (1990). 7. J. Kalef-Ezra and Y.S. Horowitz, Int. J. Appl. Radiat. Isot., 33, 1085-1100 (1982). 4-295