Boron that appears in borate form in nature is an essential additive to a variety of industrial products. Recently, certain boron compounds have attracted attention in high technology utilization areas owing to their special crystal and optical characteristics. Thermoluminescent (TL) dosimetry that is used to record amount of radiation exposure is one of such areas. Two borates searched for candidacy in TL dosimetry are lithium tetraborate and lithium triborate. These materials are synthesized and metal doped by numerous researchers to be tested for thermoluminescence response. Lithium tetraborate has aroused interest of scientists since 1960s by the courtesy of the thermoluminescence (TL) property. However, lithium triborate is rather new in this area. This study compromises a broad overview including synthesis methods employed for the production of these two materials. Furthermore, the TL properties that have significant effect on the TL dosimetry potential of a compound are noted along with the detailed information on TL measurement procedure specifications.Keywords: Thermoluminescence, dosimetry, lithium borates, synthesis, doping, characterization. BORATESThere are several natural and synthetic borates used in different branches of industry. Natural borates are generally cleaned from their impurities in processing plants and are further treated to more qualified end products (like boric acid, anhydrous boric acid, anhydrous borax, borax pentahydrate,borax decahydrate and sodium perborate) in recrystallizer units. Besides, the variability of borate crystal chemistry [1] allows researchers synthesize numerous borate structures usable in high technology areas. Thermoluminescent (TL) dosimetry used to measure radiation exposure is an important high technology utilization area for these synthetic borates. General Uses of Borates in High TechnologyIt is certain that the interesting crystal structure of borates play an important role for its utilization in high technology. Although the utilization variety of borates is strongly related to its structural variety, in this communication we will concentrate on results of these characteristics rather than chemical background. Indeed, there is extensive number of studies devoted to the crystal structures of borates [1][2][3] which may be refered for detailed information.Owing to the varied crystallinity borates possess large electronic band gaps, attractive nonlinear optical (NLO) properties, chemical and environmental stability, and mechanical strength [3]. Hence, they found wide use in *Address correspondence to this author at the Middle East Technical University, Mining Engineering, Ankara, Turkey; Tel: +903122102664; Fax: +903122105822; E-mails: epekpak@metu.edu.tr, ayseny@metu.edu.tr nonlinear optical technologies as well as in thermoluminescence dosimetry.Borates have high UV transmittance at wavelengths down to 155 nm [4]. Therefore, they are appropriate for the use in plasma displays and in laser technology. Furthermore they are strong phosphors which ...

No abstract