Preparation and Thermoluminescence Characteristics of Ytterbium Borosilicate Glasses for Radiation Dosimetry Applications

Abstract

ABSTRACT A borosilicate glass composite (SiO 2 —Na 2 CO 3 —ZnO—H 3 BO 3 ) doped with varying concentrations of Yb 2 O 3 (0–0.1 mol%) was fabricated using the melt‐quenching technique. The thermoluminescence (TL) properties of the prepared composite were investigated, revealing that the highest TL response (the total area under the curve) was achieved with 0.06 mol% Yb 2 O 3 . Subsequently, a comprehensive dosimetric analysis, considering annealing conditions, dose–response relationship, minimum detectable dose, reproducibility of the TL response, and thermal and optical fading of the prepared glass, was determined. The obtained results demonstrated that this glass composite exhibited a linear dose–response across a wide gamma dose range of 0.5–2 kGy and about 28% TL fading after 24 h of irradiation, followed by 16% after 7 days without any further deterioration during around 1 month of examination. These advantageous properties suggest that radiation detection applications can use this examined glass composite.