Response of Alumina-Based Ceramic Thermoluminescence Detector to Charged Particles

Abstract

Ceramic thermoluminescence detectors (TLDs) are low-cost devices with high spatial resolution and very easy to use. The basic characteristics of alumina-based ceramic TLDs (Chiba Ceramic Mfg. Co., Ltd. A8) in response to X-ray and charged particle beams (H, He, C, Ne, Ar) have been reported in an effort to apply TLDs as a QA/QC tool for charged particle therapy. The glow curve has two peaks, and the main peak is located at 148 °C and 694 nm. For each irradiation, four dose levels were given: 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, and 5.0 Gy in water. The main peak showed good linearity and repeatability for X-rays. However, thermoluminescence efficiency decreased slightly with increasing irradiation dose with charged particle irradiation. The thermoluminescence efficiency of the main peak showed a very small dependence on linear energy transfer (LET) compared with common TLDs. This ceramic TLD may be applicable as a verification tool in a limited LET range such as proton therapy.