On the elimination of the afterglow of CsI(Tl) scintillation detector

The use of CsI(Tl) in survey meters is limited to low dose-rate fields due to the afterglow effect, which can take up to 20 min in case of 120 s exposure to 4 R/h field. Even mixtures of low and high dose-rate fields are prohibited since the afterglow effect of the high dose-rate field prevents the use of the meter in the low dose-rate field. It was found that heating the scintillation detector to 60 °C shortened considerably the time of the afterglow effect to 3 s, even after exposure of 120 s to fields of 4 R/h. It is suggested to start heating the detector immediately when reaching high dose-rate field and adjusting the calibration to the measured temperature.