Thermoluminescence dosimeter (TLD) studies of Ca 10 K(PO 4 ) 7 :Dy phosphor for applications in radiation dosimetry.

This paper reports the thermoluminescence (TL) aspects of Ca 10 K(PO 4 ) 7 :Dy phosphor synthesized by the wet chemical method for the first time. The XRD results confirm the formation of the desired crystalline phase. Surface morphological studies reveal the formation of polyhedrons and agglomerations having an average diameter of 200 nm while EDS data shows the presence and composition of the elements in appropriate amounts. The effect of Dy doping concentration has been studied on the thermoluminescence properties with exposure to gamma radiations from the Co-60 source. Best TL has been observed for 5 mol% Dy doping concentration. The glow curve is simple and consists of a single peak at 130 o C. The effect of the heating rate has been studied on the TL glow curve and the heating rate of 5 o C/s shows the best TL response. The various TL properties such as annealing conditions, dose-response, TL linearity, fading, reusability, etc. of the prepared phosphor have been studied to check its suitability as a good TL dosimeter. Thermoluminescence characterization of the phosphor reports that the TL response is linear from 5Gy-2000 Gy. The results show that this phosphor can be a good TL dosimeter for the dosimetry of gamma radiations from Co-60.