Thermoluminescence characteristics of Li2B4O7 single crystal dosimeters doped with Mn

In this study, thermoluminescence (TL) characterization of newly developed Li2B4O7:Mn single crystal phosphor is reported. It is a very attractive material in personal dosimetry because of its near tissue equivalency (Zeff=7.25). The crystal was grown by the Czochralski method from high purity compounds. Glow curve, dose response, and fading and reproducibility properties of this material were investigated. Its TL glow curve showed two well separated peaks at about 105 and 220 °C with a heating rate of 2 °C s−1. The main peak at 220 °C has a linear dose response of up to 60 Gy. The thermal fading ratio of the material is about 8% for the main peak in 10 days. The results showed that there is no significant variation of TL responses for 15 sequential measurements. Apart from the dosimetric properties above, the TL kinetic parameters of the main peak at 220 °C of Li2B4O7:Mn single crystal phosphor were also calculated using the various heating rates method. Activation energy and frequency factor were found as 1.21 eV and 3.75×1011 s−1, respectively.