Thermoluminescence properties of Ca <sub>2</sub> B <sub>2</sub> O <sub>5</sub> :Dy ceramics for neutron measurement
Hajime Komiya, Ichiro Kawamura, Hiroki Kawamoto, Yutaka Fujimoto, Masanori Koshimizu, Go Okada, Yusuke Koba, Genichiro Wakabayashi, Keisuke Asai
Abstract
Abstract To develop thermoluminescent materials for neutron detection, 10 B-enriched and 11 B-enriched Ca 2 B 2 O 5 :Dy were prepared and their thermoluminescence (TL) properties were investigated after irradiation with X-rays, He ions and thermal neutrons. The TL of these materials was induced by X-rays and He ions and sensitivities to radiation are independent of the boron isotopes in the host materials. On the contrary, the TL intensity of the 10 B-enriched sample was significantly higher than that of the 11 B-enriched sample after irradiation with thermal neutrons. The high sensitivity to neutrons in the TL of the 10 B-enriched sample is attributed to γ -rays and charged particles generated from 10 B(n, α ) 7 Li and 10 B(n, α ) 7 Li* reactions. In the neutron fluence range of the measurements (3.0 × 10 5 to 10 8 neutrons cm −2 ), the TL intensities attributed to 10 B(n, α ) 7 Li and 10 B(n, α ) 7 Li* reactions against thermal neutron fluence showed good linearity. In terms of detectable fluence, the new TL materials are more sensitive to neutrons than some existing Dy-containing TL materials.