Synthesis and thermoluminescence characterization of lithium tetraborate (Li2B4O7) doped with copper and silver metals

In this paper, dosimetric phosphor; lithium tetraborate (Li2B4O7) which has been synthesized and doped with Cu, Ag transition metals using two different synthesis methods (solution-assisted method and microwave-assisted method) and thermoluminescence characteristics of synthesized lithium tetraborate are analyzed. Synthesized Li2B4O7: Cu and Li2B4O7: Cu, Ag phosphors were characterized with X-ray Diffraction, Transmission Electron Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy, and Differential Thermal Analysis to determine structural and morphological properties. Thermoluminescence (TL) properties of the lithium tetraborate samples, doped with varied amounts of copper in the range 0.02 wt% - 0.1 wt% and constant amount of silver (0.04 wt%) was added as co-dopant, were studied. TL results demonstrate that 0.08% Cu and 0.04% Ag doped lithium tetraborate synthesized with solution-assisted method has the highest dosimetric sensitivity. Kinetic parameters (trap depth and order of kinetic) of this sample were calculated using peak shape, variable heating rate and computer glow curve deconvolution methods.