Study of the luminescent behavior of Spectrolite + Teflon pellets in 90Sr + 90Y beams

• The physical and chemical structures of powdered Spectrolite were investigated.
• Spectrolite + Teflon pellets were studied in concentration of 1:1.
• Characterization tests of the TL and OSL responses were performed.
• The samples were exposed to a 90Sr + 90Y source.
• The material presents usefulness as beta radiation dosimeter.

The Spectrolite, from the silicate family, a variety of Labradorite, was already studied in relation to its thermoluminescence (TL) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) responses, in high-dose gamma radiation fields; the results indicated their good application as gamma radiation detectors. In the present work, the analyses performed to investigate powdered Spectrolite are presented, by means of the XRD, SEM and EDX techniques. The luminescent behavior of Spectrolite + Teflon samples, in the concentration of 1:1, was studied in beta radiation beams (90Sr + 90Y), using the luminescent phenomena of TL and OSL. The results showed adequate TL and OSL reproducibility of the samples; the dose–response curves for both techniques presented a linear behavior in a range from 0.5 Gy to 1 kGy, and the fading showed that after 150 h there were 46.7% and 31.6% of the remaining signal of samples for TL and OSL responses, respectively. Therefore, the Spectrolite + Teflon pellets may be used in beta radiation dosimetry.