In-homogeneity in the pre-dose sensitization of the 110 °C TL peak in various quartz samples: The influence of annealing

The pre-dose sensitization effect of the 110 °C TL glow-peak of quartz is a basic tool in thermoluminescence and optically stimulated luminescence dating and retrospective dosimetry. In the present work, a homogeneity study was performed on pre-dose sensitization in grains obtained from large quartz crystals samples collected from 10 different origins. The aliquot – to – aliquot scatter of the pre-dose sensitization of the 110 °C TL peak within each quartz crystal was monitored. The influence of the annealing on this scattering was also studied. Therefore, the investigation was applied to the un-fired “as is” samples as well as to samples annealed at 900 °C for 1 h following cooling to room temperature in air. The results showed that in the case of “as is” quartz the sensitization effect vary strongly within each aliquot of the same quartz sample. This strong variation is removed by both the high temperature annealing as well as heating up to 500 °C, involved in the TL measurements. These results are generally discussed in the framework of existing models and applications of the effect.