Optically stimulated luminescence: A brief overview

The use of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) in radiation dosimetry has been conditioned by the availability of suitable dosimetry (OSLD) materials. The crucial property dictating the suitability of a material as an OSLD is the material’s defect structure. This paper reviews some of the recent developments in radiation dosimetry that have been enabled by knowledge of the charge trapping and recombination processes occurring in OSLD materials during irradiation and stimulation. Although many materials have been and are currently being studied, this short review focuses on just two, namely carbon-doped aluminum oxide (Al2O3:C) and europium-doped potassium bromide (KBr:Eu). The defect structure and trapping/recombination mechanisms in these materials have led to application in several areas of radiation dosimetry and dose imaging. Two recent areas of development are in space dosimetry (for Al2O3:C) and in medical dosimetry (for KBr:Eu). This overview briefly describes these latter modern applications and relates the functionality of the OSLDs to their basic defect properties.