title: Preparation and characterisation of a sol-gel process α-Al₂O₃ polycrystalline detector.
abstract: This article presents the dosimetric characteristics of α-Al2O3 detectors prepared through the sol-gel process, disc pressing and sintering in a highly reducing atmosphere. Comparative tests between the sol-gel process α-Al2O3 polycrystalline and anion-defective α-Al2O3:C single-crystal detectors indicate that the ones prepared through this approach present good dosimetric characteristics similar to those found in single-crystal detectors, such as a simple glow curve with the main peak at ∼198 °C (2 °C s(-1)), high sensitivity, a detection threshold of 1.7 µGy, linearity of response, low fading, relatively low photon energy dependence, reusability without annealing and good reproducibility. However, the undesirable feature of heating rate dependence of the thermoluminescence (TL) output in α-Al2O3:C single crystal is practically non-existent in the sol-gel process α-Al2O3 polycrystalline detector. This characteristic renders it useful for the routine processing of large numbers of personal and environmental dosemeters at higher heating rates and also when it comes to the proposal for new approaches to thermal quenching investigation.
authors.affiliation: Serviço de Radiações Aplicadas à Saúde, Laboratório de Dosimetria Termoluminescente, Centro de Desenvolvimento da Tecnologia Nuclear, CDTN/CNEN, C.P. 941, CEP: 30161-970, Belo Horizonte, Brazil hrf@cdtn.br.
authors.forename: H R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.affiliation: Serviço de Nanotecnologia e Materiais Nucleares, Laboratório de Microesferas Gel, Centro de Desenvolvimento da Tecnologia Nuclear, CDTN/CNEN, C.P. 941, CEP: 30161-970, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Santos
mesh_terms: D000537:Aluminum Oxide / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D003460:Crystallization / Q000379:methods*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D008422:Materials Testing; D044367:Phase Transition; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013819:Thermoluminescent Dosimetry / Q000295:instrumentation*
chemical_list: D000537:Aluminum Oxide