Reference Materials of Absorbed Dose: Expanding Dynamic Range and Improving Measurement Accuracy

Abstract

Establishment and control of metrological characteristics of measurements of absorbed ionizing radiation doses in the range of 0.01 and 200 kGy by reference materials is an urgent task due to their wide application in various industries. The most convenient means of metrological support for transferring a unit of absorbed dose rate of intense photon, electron, and beta radiation to measuring instruments in radiation technologies are reference materials with established metrological traceability to the International System of Units (SI). In the present study, a method for expanding the dynamic range of measuring the absorbed dose of high-intensity ionizing radiation by radiochromic film dosimetry systems was considered and tested. The accuracy (uncertainty) of dose measurements was estimated depending on the initial optical density of the radiation-sensitive layer of the radiochromic composition. The possibility of expanding the dose characteristics and improving the metrological characteristics of the existing reference materials of absorbed dose (in water) for use as secondary standards (Measures) of the absorbed dose of ionizing radiation reproducing and (or) storing one or more points of the selected measurement scale of the absorbed dose with increased accuracy (uncertainty) of the measured values of the absorbed dose (in water) in an extended dynamic range was shown.