Photoluminescent Color-Center Based Lithium Fluoride Radiation Detectors for Proton Beam Diagnostics

Abstract:

Lithium fluoride (LiF) is a well-known dosimeter material and is sensitive to any kind of ionizing radiation. A linear accelerator for protontherapy under development at ENEA C.R. Frascati was used to irradiate LiF crystals and thin films at room temperature with proton beams of 3 and 7 MeV energy in a dose range from 10³ to 10⁷ Gy. The irradiation of LiF induced the formation of stable F₂ and F₃⁺ color centers (CCs), which emit with broad photoluminescence (PL) bands under optical pumping at wavelengths close to 450 nm. By acquiring the PL image of the irradiated spots with a conventional fluorescence microscope, the transversal proton beam intensity was mapped with a high spatial resolution. The integrated PL intensity was also measured as a function of the irradiation dose: LiF films showed a linear PL response extending over three orders of magnitude of dose range, independently on the beam energy. It was also possible to measure the CCs PL distribution with proton penetration depth and direct imaging the Bragg peak, which gives an estimation of the proton beam energy. The sensitivity of the optical reading techniques and the high emission efficiency of CCs provided encouraging results to use photoluminescent color-center LiF-based radiation detectors for proton beam dosimetry and imaging applications.

• Periodical: Advances in Science and Technology (Volume 98)
• Pages: 82-90
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AST.98.82
• Online since: October 2016
• Authors: Massimo Piccinini*, Alessandro Ampollini, Luigi Picardi, Concetta Ronsivalle, Monia Vadrucci, Francesca Bonfigli, Stefano Libera, Enrico Nichelatti, Maria Aurora Vincenti, Rosa Maria Montereali
• Keywords: Color Centers, Lithium Fluoride, Photoluminescence, Proton Beams, Thin Films

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