Abstract
A sensitive thermoluminescence (Ba0.88Sr0.12SO4)(99.8%):EuO2% (B88) nano-phosphor has been prepared using the chemical co-precipitation method. A comparative study of B88 nanophosphor with its corresponding prepared micro-crystalline form has been made. The dose response of nano-B88, to gamma-ray in low and intermediate ranges, was studied in comparison with micro-phase and reference material (TL-700H). The supralinearity factors for nano/micro-B88 and TL-700H are calculated and compared between them along both low and intermediate dose ranges. The lower detection limit of dose calculation (D-LDL) method is compared with the detection limit (D-DL) and critical level (D-CL) of dose calculation algorithm. According to B88 energy dependence study, it is energy dependent for all photon energies except from 0.8 to 4 MeV due to their high value of effective atomic number (Z(eff)=43.5). Nano-B88 is sensitive to light, so the nano-B88 should be stored in dark region away from any source of visible and UV-light. The fading and reusability studies of both nano/micro-B88 samples are also included. The combined and expanded uncertainties that accompanied the radiation dose measurements are calculated. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.