OSL Characteristics of Cu Activated NaLi2 PO4 Phosphor

Abstract

Cu-activated NaLi2 PO4 phosphor material was successfully synthesized through solid state diffusion method. It was mainly doped with Cu2 Cl2 and CuCl2 salts for impurities in the form of Cu+ and Cu2+ respectively. Powder X-ray Diffraction (PXRD) was carried out for the confirmation of single phase of synthesized phosphor material. Dosimetric properties of the material were investigated using the Optically Stimulated (OSL) techniques. We have found maximum sensitivity of Cu2+: NaLi2 PO4 samples at concentration 1000ppm (0.1 mol%) in OSL with annealing temperatures 1073K. Whereas for Cu+: NaLi2 PO4 samples, 873K was considered as the optimization annealing temperature with impurity concentrations 0.08mol%. The phosphor material exhibits good dosimetric characteristics. It was found that NaLi2 PO4:Cu2+ is little less (3 times) and NaLi2 PO4: Cu+ is 4.2 times less sensitive than that of STD. Al2 O3:C (Landauer Inc., USA) respectively. For further OSL studies only NaLi2PO4:Cu2+ used. Low TL fading, for NaLi2 PO4:Cu2+, only 10.74% fading takes place in 10days after that it negligibly fade. Also, wide OSL dose response (10-15kGy), easy optically bleaching for reusability and easy to handle are some of the other significant qualities observed in our samples. Simple method of preparation and tissue equivalence (Zeff~10.8) adds on the advantages of NaLi2 PO4: Cu phosphor. This type of phosphor is also suitable for high energy radiation dosimetry used in OSL techniques.