Broadband X-ray edge-enhancement imaging of a boron fibre on lithium fluoride thin film detector

Nichelatti, E.; Bonfigli, F.; Vincenti, Maria Aurora; Cecilia, A.; Vagovič, Patrik; Baumbach, Tilo; Montereali, Rosa Maria

doi:10.1016/j.nima.2016.07.005

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 41 publications

(56 reference statements)

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“…Almost 20 years ago, novel soft X-ray imaging detectors based on the visible photoluminescence (PL) of radiation-induced laseractive F 2 and F 3 + CCs in undoped LiF crystals 21 and thin films 22 were proposed and successfully tested for imaging of metallic meshes and biological objects, including in vivo cells, 23 by using very intense soft X-ray beams from laser-plasma sources. Their submicrometric spatial resolution, wide dynamic range (>10 3 ) and large field of view (>1 cm 2 ), combined with easy handling, daylight operation and no development needs, have allowed to successfully extend their use to advanced diagnostics of soft X-ray lasers 24,25 as well as to higher X-ray photon energies by using conventional X-ray tubes, 26,27 synchrotrons, 28,29 X-ray free-electron lasers operating at long 30 and short wavelengths, 31 even in the form of thin films combined with commercially available glass dosimeters. 32 A spatial resolution of 80 nm was obtained in soft X-ray micro-radiographs stored in LiF films observed by scanning near-field optical microscopy.…”

Section: Luminescence and Radiation Detectorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radiophotoluminescence of Color Centers in Lithium Fluoride for Novel Radiation Detectors in Proton-Beam Diagnostics and Clinical Dosimetry

Montereali

Nichelatti

Piccinini

et al. 2021

ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol.

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The peculiar photoluminescence properties of radiation-induced electronic defects in lithium fluoride (LiF), known as color centers, are well known for applications in tunable lasers and photonic light-emitting microdevices operating at room temperature. In the last two decades they have been under exploitation in radiation imaging detectors and dosimeters based on the optical reading of the visible photoluminescence in LiF crystals and polycrystalline thin films. They were proposed for soft X-ray imaging at high spatial resolution and, more recently, their use has been successfully applied to advanced diagnostics of proton beams. After proton irradiation of LiF, the emission intensity of the radiation-induced point defects is proportional to the absorbed dose over several orders of magnitude, thus novel solid-state dosimeters with imaging capabilities can be envisaged, although dose values that are typical of clinical radiotherapy are still a challenge. In this brief review, the main experimental results and recent advances concerning radiophotoluminescence of color centers in optically transparent LiF crystals and polycrystalline thin films are presented and discussed in order to highlight the advantages, challenges and limits related to the feasibility of detectors for protontherapy applications.

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Section: Luminescence and Radiation Detectorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radiophotoluminescence of Color Centers in Lithium Fluoride for Novel Radiation Detectors in Proton-Beam Diagnostics and Clinical Dosimetry

Montereali

Nichelatti

Piccinini

et al. 2021

ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol.

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“…The simplicity of use, sub-micrometric spatial resolution and wide dynamic range make interesting application of these detectors in X-ray imaging possible with white hard X-ray beams up to 60 keV, [14][15][16] even in the form of thin films combined with commercially available glass dosimeters. 17 Indeed, for ionizing radiation with depth of penetration larger than the film thickness, the resulting X-ray images exhibit a high signal-to-noise ratio, because the limited physical thickness of the luminescent thin film strongly reduces background contributions from out-of-focus planes in fluorescence images, 6 thus allowing for a higher spatial resolution and contrast.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Visible Radiophotoluminescence of Color Centers in Lithium Fluoride Thin Films for High Spatial Resolution Imaging Detectors for Hard X-rays

Vincenti¹,

Nichelatti²,

Nigro³

et al. 2023

ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol.

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Passive solid-state detectors based on the visible radiophotoluminescence (RPL) of stable aggregate F2 and F3+ color centers in lithium fluoride (LiF) are successfully used for X-ray imaging and advanced diagnostics of intense X-rays sources. Among their advantages are a wide dynamic range and simplicity of use, as they can be read in non-destructive way by using a fluorescence microscope, allowing high spatial resolution on a large field of view. Optically-transparent LiF films, of three different increasing thicknesses, were grown by thermal evaporation on glass and silicon substrates and irradiated with monochromatic 7 keV X-rays at several doses in the range between 1.3×101 and 4.5×103 Gy at the SOLEIL synchrotron facility. For all of the film thicknesses and both types of substrate, the RPL response linearly depends on the irradiation dose and it is higher up to 50% for the LiF films grown on the reflective Si(100) substrate. A minimum dose of 13 Gy was detected, despite the low thickness of the irradiated films. The limited thickness of the homogeneously colored LiF film allows to obtain a spatial resolution of (0.44 ± 0.04) µm in edge-enhancement imaging experiments conducted by placing an Au mesh in front of the samples.

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Spectral analysis of visible photoluminescence from F2 and F3+ color centers in low-dose gamma-irradiated lithium fluoride crystals at increasing excitation power

Nichelatti

Piccinini

Pimpinella

et al. 2022

Journal of Luminescence

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Broadband X-ray edge-enhancement imaging of a boron fibre on lithium fluoride thin film detector

Cited by 6 publications

References 41 publications

Radiophotoluminescence of Color Centers in Lithium Fluoride for Novel Radiation Detectors in Proton-Beam Diagnostics and Clinical Dosimetry

Radiophotoluminescence of Color Centers in Lithium Fluoride for Novel Radiation Detectors in Proton-Beam Diagnostics and Clinical Dosimetry

Visible Radiophotoluminescence of Color Centers in Lithium Fluoride Thin Films for High Spatial Resolution Imaging Detectors for Hard X-rays

Spectral analysis of visible photoluminescence from F2 and F3+ color centers in low-dose gamma-irradiated lithium fluoride crystals at increasing excitation power

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