Optically Stimulated Luminescence Response to Ionizing Radiation of Red Bricks (SiO2, Al2O3, and Fe2O3) Used as Building Materials
- ORNL
Quartz is the most common mineral in our environment. It is found in granite, hydrothermal veins and volcanic rocks, as well as in sedimentary deposits derived from such solid materials. These sediments are also made into building materials, such as bricks and pottery. Thus the potential use of a dose reconstruction technique based on quartz grains is enormous, whether as a dating tool in archaeology and quaternary geology, or in nuclear accident dosimetry. This work describes the Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) response of red brick to ionizing radiation. The bricks, from the state of Puebla, Mexico, represent another class of materials that can be used in retrospective dosimetry following nuclear or radiological incidents. The chemical composition of fifteen bricks (three samples from five different brick factories) was determined, using energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), be primarily SiO{sub 2}, Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} and Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} and is believed to be representative for this common building material. Individual aliquots from these bricks were powdered in agate mortars and thermally annealed. Replicate samples of the aliquots were then irradiated with beta particles from a sealed source of {sup 90}Sr/{sup 90}Y. The OSL response was measured with a Daybreak Model 2200 High-Capacity OSL Reader System. We present here for this material the characteristic OSL response to beta particles; the reproducibility of the OSL response; the linearity of the response in the dose range 0.47 Gy to 47 Gy; and the fading characteristics.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC05-00OR22725
- OSTI ID:
- 1038513
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 3rd International Symposium on Radiation Physics, Guanajuato, Mexico, 20070226, 20070302
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
SU-E-CAMPUS-T-05: Preliminary Results On a 2D Dosimetry System Based On the Optically Stimulated Luminescence of Al2O3
SU-E-T-264: Preliminary Results On New Optically Stimulated Luminescent Materials for Proton Therapy Dosimetry