George S. Polymeris

Thermally assisted photo transfer OSL from deep traps in Al2O3:C grains exhibiting different TL peak shapes

The present work studies the thermally assisted photo transfer OSL (TAPT OSL) signal in the case of Al(2)O(3):C samples showing double-structured main dosimetric TL peaks. The measurement signal provides indirect experimental evidence regarding the presence of deep traps along with one transfer mechanism extremely powerful and efficient. The experimental features of this signal are presented along with those yielded for samples with narrow TL peaks for the sake of comparison. In the framework of a dosimetric characterization, the straightforward relation observed between the TAPT OSL integrated intensity and the dose, even if non-linear, implies that this signal could be effectively used towards dosimetry purposes in the high dose region up to 250 Gy. Furthermore, the study on the influence of the annealing temperature on the TL glow curve shape on Al(2)O(3):C grains is attempted. The variety of glow curve shapes reported especially in the case of single grains is not affected by high temperature annealing, since its effect is dominant even after heating at 1085°C. Thus, this variety should not be correlated to the different deep trap occupancies, but rather be attributed to a possible structural defect. The main dosimetric TL peak af all grains is considered to be a composite of two unambiguously different traps of non-first-order kinetics. The low temperature part of these traps, reaching a maximum at ~190°C is an electron trap and the high temperature part with maximum at ~250°C is a hole trap. TL dose response of Al(2)O(3):C grains presenting double peak structures is presented for the first time in literature, suggesting the usefulness on the applicability of Al(2)O(3):C in the dose regime up to 100 Gy.

Dissolution and subsequent re-crystallization as zeroing mechanism, thermal properties and component resolved dose response of salt (NaCl) for retrospective dosimetry

In the present study we report dosimetric properties of iodized salt aiming at using it as an accidental luminescent dosimeter. It was found that the very good sensitivity of its main dosimetric peak is strongly affected by thermal treatments. This is also the case for OSL emission. The sensitivity loss due to heating implies that caution should be exercised while applying single aliquot protocols for dose evaluation. The sequence of dissolution and subsequent re-crystallization was established to be an extremely effective zeroing mechanism for the TL signal. The linearity in the dose response was also monitored in the case of dissolved and subsequently re-crystallized salt. In the case of naturally occurring salt, zeroing of the TL signal due to dissolution as well as the linearity of dose response up to doses as large as 100 Gy were found to be very promising features for dating applications.

Thermoluminescence as a probe in bioactivity studies; the case of 58S sol–gel bioactive glass

The formation of a carbonated hydroxyapatite (HCAp) layer on the surface of bioactive materials is the main reaction that takes place upon their immersion in physiological fluids. To date, all techniques used for the identification of this HCAp formation are rather time consuming and not well suited to detailed and rapid monitoring of changes in the bioactivity response of the material. The aim of this work is to explore the possibility of using thermoluminescence (TL) for the discrimination between different bioactive responses in the case of the 58S bioactive glass. Results provided strong indications that the 110 °C TL peak of quartz can be used effectively in the study of the bioactive behaviour of 58S bioactive glass, since it is unambiguously present in all samples and does not require deconvolution analysis. Furthermore, the intensity of the 110 °C TL peak is proven to be very sensitive to the different bioactive responses, identifying the loss of silica which takes place at the first stages of the sequence. The discontinuities of the 110 °C TL peak intensity plot versus immersion time at 8 and 1440 min provide experimental indications regarding the timescale for both the beginning of amorphous CaP formation as well as the end of crystalline hydroxyl-apatite formation respectively, while the spike in the sensitization of the 110 °C TL peak, which was observed for immersion times ranging between 20 and 40 min, could be an experimental feature indicating the beginning of the crystalline HCAp formation.

COMPONENT RESOLVED IR BLEACHING STUDY OF THE BLUE LM- OSL SIGNAL OF VARIOUS QUARTZ SAMPLES

Component Resolved IR Bleaching Study of the Blue LM-OSL Signal of Various Quartz Samples The present work provides an initial component resolved analysis concerning the effect of infra-red (IR) exposure at elevated temperatures on the blue LM-OSL signal of quartz (stimulated at 470 nm). The study was performed on a total of seven quartz samples, among which five originated from Turkey, one from Greece and one synthetic quartz sample. For these quartz samples, the presence of 6 or even 7 independent LM-OSL components was previously reported, after the application of a computerized decomposition analysis. IR bleaching of each one of these components is studied and compared to the respective signal reduction due to the same thermal treatment solely. It is clearly demonstrated that IR stimulation at temperatures above 50°C does not deplete only the fast component in most sedimentary quartz samples studied. Net depletion of fast and medium components resulting from IR exposure is sample-dependent and occurs faster as the stimulation temperature increases. Weak IR bleaching of slow components is also reported in some cases, being more effective for stimulation temperatures up to 100°C. No depletion of either the medium or the slow components was detected for stimulation temperatures above 150°C. Finally, IR does not stimulate any of the LM-OSL components in the case of the synthetic quartz sample.

Thermal Stability Study from Room Temperature to 1273 K (1000 °C) in Magnesium Silicide

Doped magnesium silicide has been identified as a promising and environmentally friendly advanced thermoelectric material in the temperature range between 500 K and 800 K (227 °C and 527 °C). Besides the plethora of magnesium silicide thermoelectric advantages, it is well known for its high sensitivity to oxidation. Oxidation is one of the primary instability mechanisms of degradation of high-temperature Mg2Si thermoelectric devices, as in the presence of O2, Mg2Si decomposes to form MgO and Si. In this work, commercial magnesium silicide in bulk form was used for thermal stability study from room temperature to 1273 K (1000 °C). Various techniques such as DTA-TG, PXRD, and FTIR have been applied. Moreover, the application of thermoluminescence (TL) as an effective and alternative probe for the study of oxidation and decomposition has been exploited. The latter provides qualitative but very helpful hints toward oxidation studies. The low-detection threshold of thermoluminescence, in conjunction with the chemical composition of the oxidation byproducts, consisting of MgO, Mg2SiO4, and SiO2, constitute two powerful motivations for further investigating its viable use as proxy for instability/decomposition studies of magnesium silicide. The partial oxidation reaction has been adopted due to the experimental fact that magnesium silicide is monitored throughout the heating temperature range of the present study. Finally, the role of silicon dioxide to the decomposition procedure, being in amorphous state and gradually crystallizing, has been highlighted for the first time in the literature. Mg2Si oxidation takes place in two steps, including a mild oxidation process with temperature threshold of 573 K (300 °C) and an abrupt one after 773 K (500 °C). Implications on the optimum operational temperature range for practical thermoelectric (TE) applications have also been briefly discussed.

Thermoluminescence, OSL and defect centers in Tb doped magnesium orthosilicate phosphor.

Mg2SiO4:Tb phosphor exhibits four thermoluminescence (TL) peaks at 124, 244, 300 and 370°C for a heating rate of 2°C/s, 244°C peak being the main dosimetry peak. The irradiated phosphor exhibits CW-OSL response on stimulation with blue (470nm) light. Thermal decay of OSL shows that all the TL traps contribute to CW-OSL signal. Its TL and OSL sensitivities are 0.21 and 0.038, respectively, than that of Al2O3:C (Landauer Inc.). Its CW-OSL response increases linearly up to 30Gy, thereafter increase was supralinear up to the studied dose of 1000Gy. Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) studies were carried out to study the defect centers induced in the phosphor by gamma irradiation and also to identify the centers responsible for the TL process. Room temperature ESR spectrum of irradiated phosphor appears to be a superposition of at least three distinct centers. One of the centers (center I) with an isotropic g-factor 2.0122 is attributable to an intrinsic O(-) radical and this correlates with the main TL peak at 244°C. Center II with an isotropic g-factor 2.0012 is assigned to an F(+)-center (singly ionized oxygen vacancy) and is the likely recombination center for all the TL peaks. Both the centers grow with radiation dose at least up to 1 kGy. Center III with an axial symmetric g-tensor with principal g-values g||=2.0049 and g⊥=2.0029 is identified as an F(+)-center and is not related to the observed TL peaks in the phosphor.

Thermoluminescence properties of irradiated commercial color pencils for accidental retrospective dosimetry

Color pencils are widely used mostly in kindergartens, in schools and could be found in all houses with families having young children. Their wide spread use in modern times as well as their chemical composition, consisting mostly of Si and Al, constitute two strong motivations towards exploiting their use as accidental retrospective thermoluminescent dosimeters. The present manuscript reports on the study of colored pencils manufactured by a commercial brand in China which is very common throughout Turkey. The preliminary results discussed in the present work illustrated encouraging characteristics, such as the presence of a trapping level giving rise to natural TL in a temperature range that is sufficiently high. Specific thermoluminescence features of this peak, such as glow peak shape and analysis, anomalous fading, thermal quenching, reproducibility, linearity and recovery ability to low attributed doses were studied. The results suggest that the color pencils could be effectively used in the framework of retrospective thermoluminescent dosimetry with extreme caution, based on multiple aliquot protocols.

Behavior of various Nigerian quartz samples to repeated irradiation and heating

In the present work the sensitization of the entire glow-curve is studied in 6 different quartz samples of Nigerian origin. The investigation was applied to the un-fired “as is” samples as well as to samples fired at 900°C for 1 hour following cooling to room temperature. The results showed that in the case of “as is” glow-curve is sensitized as a whole. There is an abrupt transition from the “natural” sensitivity without any previous heating and the artificial sensitivity induced after the first heating. The sensitization is growing up strongly to the 10th heating but to a lower rate. The sensitization factor of the TL glow-peak at “110°C” was found to be linearly correlated to the higher temperature TL peaks. In the case of annealed samples there is an initial increase between the sensitivity immediately after the end of annealing and after the first heating. As the number of heating is increased up to the 10th heating the sensitization is stabilized at a constant value. The results are discussed in the frame-work of existing models and implications of the sensitization effect in various applications, while some explanations are attempted.

Preliminary results towards the equivalence of transformed continuous-wave Optically Stimulated Luminescence (CW-OSL) and linearly-modulated (LM-OSL) signals in quartz

The present paper presents a comparative experimental study of two commonly measured Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) signals in quartz. The experimental study measures both the continuous wave OSL (CW-OSL) and the linearly modulated (LM-OSL) signals from the same quartz sample for a range of stimulation temperatures between 180 and 280°C, while the former is transformed to pseudo LM-OSL (ps LM-OSL). A computerized deconvolution curve analysis of the LM-OSL and ps LM-OSL signals was carried out, and the contributions of several OSL components to the initial OSL signal (0.1 s) were shown to be independent of the stimulation temperature used during the measurement. It was also found that the composite OSL (0.1 s) signal consists mainly of the first two OSL components present in the OSL curves. The equivalence of the ps LM-OSL (transformed CW-OSL) and of LM-OSL measurements was also examined by an appropriate choice of the experimental stimulation times, and of the stimulation power of the blue LEDs used during the measurement.

Determination of trapping parameters in BeO ceramics in both quenched as well as reconstructed thermoluminescence glow curves using various analysis methods

The trapping parameters of BeO thermoluminescence peaks 2 and 3 (with delocalization temperatures of 192 and 308°C respectively, obtained with heating rate of 1K/s) have been calculated using various analysis techniques, including the peak shape methods, isothermal decay, variable heating rates, the fractional glow technique and de-convolution. However, as BeO has been reported to undergo thermal quenching, both intensity as well as trapping parameters are affected, because the glow curve is distorted. Therefore, trapping parameters were calculated for both quenched and unquenched data of the aforementioned thermoluminescence peaks. The unquenched glow curves were determined by reconstructing the corresponding quenched; the following thermal quenching parameters were adopted: W = 0.60eV and C = 1.3 × 106 for peak 2 and W = 0.80eV and C = 1.2 × 107 for peak 3. The obtained activation energies and frequency factors before and after reconstruction were compared both for every method and also to previous studies. This study emphasizes the importance of reconstruction process on trapping parameters for peak 3, as this peak lies within a special temperature range where the efficiency gets values < 0.54. The main dosimetric peak is mildly affected by thermal quenching; thus before and after reconstruction the corresponding values do not yield significant variations. The average values for the activation energy and frequency factor after reconstruction were calculated as 1.14 ± 0.07eV and 9.9 × 1010 ± 0.4 × 1010 s-1 for peak 2; the corresponding values for peak 3 are 1.34 ± 0.08eV, 6.9 × 1011 ± 0.6 × 1011 s-1 respectively. Both peaks are described by first order of kinetics even after reconstruction has occurred. Individual peculiarities of each analysis technique has been both presented and discussed.