title: Performance of pellets and composites of natural colourless topaz as radiation dosemeters.
abstract: The aim of the present work is to investigate the possibility of using the properties of the thermoluminescent emission (TL) of Brazilian natural topaz for dosimetric applications. Topaz is an aluminium fluorsilicate with general composition of Al2(SiO4)(F,OH)2 found with relative abundance in Brazil and in other parts of the world. Topaz from Santo Antonio do Jacinto, Minas Gerais. Brazil, was used in this work, in the form of pellets of topaz mixed with Teflon and composites made with topaz embedded in a glass matrix. The TL sensitivity was tested between 10(-4) and 10(4) Gy. The TL peak intensity increases with the dose before saturation, which occurs around 2 kGy. The peak intensity showed a strong dependence with radiation energy. The effect of visible light and the behaviour of the TL signals after successive irradiation-reading-annealing cycles are presented and discussed.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Educação, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, São Cristóvão, SE, Brazil. dnsouza@fisica.ufs.br
authors.forename: D N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Souza
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.forename: M E G
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Valerio
authors.forename: L V E
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Caldas
mesh_terms: D000538:Aluminum Silicates / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000528:radiation effects*; D001938:Brazil; D003116:Color; D005720:Gamma Rays; D006358:Hot Temperature; D008163:Luminescent Measurements; D011854:Radiochemistry; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013819:Thermoluminescent Dosimetry / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D000538:Aluminum Silicates