The preliminary application of OSL in comparison with TL for authentication of ancient Chinese bricks

The single-aliquot regenerative-dose (SAR) protocol with optically stimulated luminenscence (OSL) was applied to measure the equivalent dose (ED) of ancient Chinese bricks ranging in age from 180 to 1600 years. In the protocol, sensitivity changes can be corrected by using OSL response to a fixed test dose during measurement. For comparative study between OSL and TL, thermoluminescence (TL) measurement procedures were also applied to determine the paleodose of the bricks. Both results of OSL and TL are in agreement with the known ages of the bricks, and the paleodose ratios(EDOSL/ EDTL) are between 0.96 and 1.21, mean value 1.08±0.02. The annual doses of the bricks, estimated by the paleodoses and the known ages, range from 5.07 to 6.79 mGy/a, comparable with the measured annual dose values of the bricks. Therefore, it is concluded that the SAR protocol is a rapid and effective OSL technique to authenticate Chinese bricks.