https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201817009012
Fiber optical dose rate measurement based on the luminescence of beryllium oxide
Radiation Physics Group at the Institute of Nuclear and Particle Physics, TU Dresden, Zellescher Weg 19, 01069, Dresden, Germany
teichmann@asp.tu-dresden.de
Radiation Physics Group at the Institute of Nuclear and Particle Physics, TU Dresden, Zellescher Weg 19, 01069, Dresden, Germany
sponner@asp.tu-dresden.de
Radiation Physics Group at the Institute of Nuclear and Particle Physics, TU Dresden, Zellescher Weg 19, 01069, Dresden, Germany
henniger@asp.tu-dresden.de
Published online: 10 January 2018
This work presents a fiber optical dose rate measurement system based on the radioluminescence and optically stimulated luminescence of beryllium oxide. The system consists of a small, radiation sensitive probe which is coupled to a light detection unit with a long and flexible light guide. Exposing the beryllium oxide probe to ionizing radiation results in the emission of light with an intensity which is proportional to the dose rate. Additionally, optically stimulated luminescence can be used to obtain dose and dose rate information during irradiation or retrospectively. The system is capable of real time dose rate measurements in fields of high dose rates and dose rate gradients and in complex, narrow geometries. This enables the application for radiation protection measurements as well as for quality control in radiotherapy. One inherent drawback of fiber optical dosimetry systems is the generation of Cherenkov radiation and luminescence in the light guide itself when it is exposed to ionizing radiation. This so called “stem” effect leads to an additional signal which introduces a deviation in the dose rate measurement and reduces the spatial resolution of the system, hence it has to be removed. The current system uses temporal discrimination of the effect for radioluminescence measurements in pulsed radiation fields and modulated optically stimulated luminescence for continuous irradiation conditions. This work gives an overview of the major results and discusses new-found obstacles of the applied methods of stem discrimination.
Key words: Beryllium oxide / Fiber optic dose rate measurements / Optically Stimulated Luminescence / Radioluminescence
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2018
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).