Dynamic range and dose linearity of the radiophotoluminescence intensity in lithium fluoride crystals irradiated with 2.3 and 26 MeV protons

Piccinini, M.; Nichelatti, E.; Vincenti, Maria Aurora; Nigro, Valentina; Ronsivalle, C.; Ampollini, A.; Nenzi, Paolo; Bazzano, G.; Trinca, Emiliano; Montereali, Rosa Maria

doi:10.1016/j.jlumin.2023.119833

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Although use in dosimetry of PL from F 2 and F 3 + CCs induced in LiF by radiation is not a new idea, as it was initially proposed for doped LiF pellets and pure LiF crystals at high doses [19,20], only recently it was successfully tested at therapeutic doses with clinical X [21] and gamma rays [22]. LiF tissue equivalence is essential for meaningful applications in clinical dosimetry for radiotherapy, including protons at doses below 50 Gy [23,24]. Recently, nominally pure LiF crystals were used as fluorescent nuclear track detectors of energetic charged particles [25,26], mainly alpha and heavier ions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visible proton Bragg curve imaging by colour centre photoluminescence in radiation detectors based on lithium fluoride films on silica

Montereali,

Nigro,

Piccinini

et al. 2024

J. Phys.: Condens. Matter

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Passive solid-state radiation detectors, based on the visible photoluminescence of radiation-induced colour centres in optically transparent lithium fluoride (LiF), polycrystalline thin films are under investigation for proton beam advanced diagnostics. After proton exposure, the latent images stored in LiF as local formations of stable F2 and F3+ aggregate defects, are directly read with a fluorescence microscope under illumination in the blue spectral range. Adopting a suitable irradiation geometry, the energy density that protons deposit in the material can be recorded as a spatial distribution of these light-emitting defects, from which a luminous replica of the proton Bragg curve can be thereafter extracted and analysed to reconstruct the proton beam energy spectrum.Their peculiar properties, such as wide dynamic range and linearity of the spectrally-integrated photoluminescence response vs. dose, make the investigation of two-dimensional LiF film radiation detectors grown on several types of substrate highly attractive. Here, the case of a LiF thin film thermally evaporated on a silica substrate, irradiated at grazing incidence with a 35 MeV proton beam, is investigated and reported for the first time. A comparison of the measured photoluminescent Bragg curve with Monte Carlo simulations demonstrates that the Bragg peak in the film is located at the very same position that would be expected in the underlying silica substrate rather than in LiF. The film packing density is shown not to have a significant effect on the peak depth, while even small nonzero grazing angle of the impinging proton beam is able to significantly modify the shape of the Bragg curve. These findings are ascribed to the effects of multiple Coulomb scattering in both the film and the substrate and are interesting for proton beam diagnostics and dosimetry.

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