Abstract
In this paper we describe the thermoluminescence (TL) characteristics of 0.8 mol% Tm3+ doped ZnB2O4 phosphors prepared by a wet-chemical method. The TL glow curves of the phosphor sample consisted of three peaks located at 181 degrees C, 213 degrees C and 351 degrees C. The glow peak TL temperature (T-m) at which the TL glow peak occurs shifts toward the higher temperature side whilst the heating ramp rate increases and also the peak TL intensity (I-m) decreases. The TL glow curves are characterized by evaluating various dosimetric characteristics of scrutinized samples. The T-m - T-stop investigations on regenerated TL signals revealed that there are five different traps in the phosphor with energy values in the range of 0.61-1.71 eV. The dose responses increased in a linear way for 3 peaks with the beta-ray exposure in the dose range of 0.11-60 Gy. The process of applying 10 Gy dose was repeated for ten successive irradiation cycles to check reproducibility and the maximum variation was found to be less than 1% from the average value. These results provide valuable knowledge for use of the characteristics of T-m doped ZnB2O4 in dosimetry research.