Preliminary study on development and characterization of high sensitivity LiAlO2 optically stimulated luminescence material

Preliminary results of an attempt to prepare LiAlO2 material with high optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) sensitivity are reported. LiAlO2 was prepared by melting a stoichiometric mixture of Li2CO3 and Al2O3 powders in a RF heating furnace. CW-OSL signal as recorded on Risoe TL/OSL reader using blue (470 nm) stimulation was found to be up to 16 times of that of Al2O3:C. The promising characteristics of LiAlO2, open up a possibility of an improved material not only for passive dosimetry of mixed fields of neutron and gamma rays but also for online measurements and dose mapping/imaging applications.

► Newly developed LiAlO2 exhibits OSL sensitivity up to 16 times of that of Al2O3:C.
► Blue (470 nm) stimulated OSL signal is studied for different durations.
► Residual signal was 0.02% for initial readout for doses below 0.2 Gy
► Dose response is linear in the studied dose range from 90 mGy to 2.25 Gy
► Post-irradiation storage fading of OSL signal is less than 17% within initial 10 h.