Radiation Protection Dosimetry

Vol. 100, Nos 1–4, pp. 191–198 (2002)

Nuclear Technology Publishing

NEW EVIDENCE FOR SPATIALLY CORRELATED TC–LC

MECHANISMS IN THERMOLUMINESCENCE OF LiF:Mg,Ti
L. Oster† and S. Biderman‡
†Physics Department, Negev Academic College of Engineering
POB 45, Beer-Sheva, 84100, Israel
‡Physics Department, Ben Gurion University
Beer-Sheva, 84105, Israel

INVITED PAPER

Abstract — New experimental investigations, consistent with the spatial coupling/perturbation between the trapping centres (TC)
and luminescent centres (LC) giving rise to the peaks 5 and 4 thermoluminescence (TL) of LiF:Mg,Ti are discussed: (1) The

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glow peak widths of peaks 2 and 3 are constant as a function of Ti concentration, while the width of peak 4 decreases with a
correlated increase in the width of peak 5. The dependence of glow peak shape on Ti concentration indicates that peaks 4 and
5 arise from a TC/LC spatially correlated extended defect. (2) The increased TL intensity of peak 5a following high ionisation
density HCP irradiation compared to low ionisation density ␥ irradiation strongly suggests that peak 5a arises from the geminate
recombination of a locally trapped e–h pair. (3) The observation that the optical bleaching conversion efficiency (CE) of peak
5a to peak 4 is measured to be 3⫾0.5 and is three orders of magnitude greater than the CE of peak 5 to peak 4, is strong
evidence for the unique structure of peak 5a — trap, i.e. peak 5a is due to a TC/LC structure which has captured an e–h pair,
optical ionisation of the electron leads directly to the peak 4 TC.

INTRODUCTION states of the same complex. The kinetic mechanisms

Thermoluminescence modelling started with very
simple models of highly localised point defects, and
total separation/independence of the trapping and lumi-
nescent centres. Current research, however, indicates
that most defects are far more complex, with localised
transitions, and defect interactions extending over many
lattice sites (1). Thus, for example, the complexity of the
TL mechanisms in LiF:Mg,Ti arises from the spatially
correlated nature of the trapping centres (TCs) and lumi-
nescent centres (LCs) in this system, which in turn give
rise to a number of unique TL properties. Current under-
standing of the role of point defects and their complexes
in the TL mechanism of TLD-100 is based on the fol-
lowing models:
(1) The defect structure responsible for peak 2 in
LiF:Mg,Ti is a Ti complex consisting of Ti(OH)n
and/or O which reacts with the Mg-Livac dipoles (2).
This defect can further react with the Mg-Livac
dipoles to form a complex based on Ti and Mg-Livac
dimers and trimers which are responsible for peaks
3 and 5 correspondingly (3,4).
(2) A combined model for peaks 4 and 5 has also been
suggested (5): peak 5 arises from the complex which
has captured an e–h pair (peak 5a), or an electron
only (peak 5), and peak 4 arises from a very similar
complex which has captured a hole only, or an e–
h pair. The e–h configurations responsible for peaks
4 and 5 may indeed be slightly different excited
Contact author E-mail: OSTER얀BGUMAIL.BGU.AC.IL
of composite peak 5 include three different types of
recombinations: (i) direct geminate recombination
between the locally trapped electron–hole pair, (ii)
the release of an electron from the electron–hole
occupied TC/LC complex into the conduction band
and (iii) release of an electron from an electron-only
occupied TC/LC complex.
The experimental observations, which prompted the
development of these models, are discussed below.
Taylor and Lilley (2) were probably the first to propose
that the defect structure responsible for peak 2 is a Ti
complex consisting of Ti(OH)n and/or O which reacts
with Mg-Livac dipoles. Townsend et al (3) and then
McKeever (4) further elaborated that when the Mg defect
is formed close to Ti defects in the lattice, the lumi-
nescence is perturbed according to the aggregation state
of the Mg. Thus unperturbed Ti centres give rise to the
emission near 410–420 nm which is the main emission
observed. Ti(OH) centres near Mg dipoles, however,
emit near 460 nm while those near Mg trimers emit near
420 nm. Once Mg precipitates from the lattice the emis-
sion reverts to that from samples containing only Ti.
Townsend et al based these conclusions on the obser-
vation that the TL peaks (2,3,5 and 6) (believed to arise
from different configurations of Mg-Livac dipoles,
dimers and trimers) do not emit at the same wavelength.
In fact, there was a general shift in wavelength to lower
values as the peak temperature increases. Moreover, all
the peaks do not emit at the same wavelength as in the
LiF:Ti specimens, which emitted at 410 nm. McKeever
studied the X ray induced luminescence emission spec-

191
 L. OSTER and S. BIDERMAN
tra following various annealing procedures and again
illustrated similar shifts in the emission spectra corre-
lated with the aggregation stages of the Mg dipoles
which cluster during aging (annealing to form dimers
and then trimers). Recent high sensitivity and resolution
investigations at BGU (6) together with computerised
deconvolution indicate that the common set of the emis-
sion bands for the different TL peaks does not change,
but that the relative intensities of the different emission
bands are changed as a function of sample temperature.
This result leads us to propose that the same lumi-
nescent centres (or the same single centre with several
sub-levels) are connected to all TL glow peaks. The
changes in the relative intensities of the different emis-
sion bands occur at the maximum temperature of TL
peak 2 (苲 120°C) and in addition the relative intensities
of the 3.59 eV and 2.84 eV bands decrease and increase
respectively over the temperature range of peaks 4 and
5 (180°C–250°C). The shift in wavelength, observed by
Townsend et al and McKeever can be explained by the
change in the relative intensities of individual emission
bands, but not by the shift in their wavelengths. The
underlying mechanism to explain the emission spectral
variations, however, remains the same and is most likely
due to varying TC/LC degrees of perturbation. Clearly,
however, the interpretation of spectral emission data is
no less complicated than the interpretation of optical
absorption or glow curve data.
The above mentioned observations formed the initial
basis for the current hypothesis that the Mg and Ti
defects are spatially correlated in the LiF lattice, i.e. are
bound together by some form of a long range interaction
into an extended complex. The existence of the trapping
centre/luminescent centre (TC/LC) complex has a
powerful bearing on important dosimetric properties,
e.g. dose response linearity/supralinearity. The possible
existence of similar TC/LC complexes (perhaps based
on the same parent structures) responsible for both
peaks 4 and 5 could also explain the anti-correlated
growth and fading properties of peaks 4 and 5 at room
temperature and above (7,8). It has also been shown that
peak 4 (contrary to peak 5) is not strongly re-populated
via phototransferred thermoluminescence (9) and this has
led to the suggestion that peak 4 is a hole trap. This
suggestion has been recently supported by the obser-
vation, that contrary to the behaviour of peak 5, whose
intensity increases as a function of the sensitisation dose
(due at least in part to the filling of the competitors),
peak 4 behaves in exactly an opposite manner: its inten-
sity decreases as a function of sensitisation dose (5). A
natural explanation for this behaviour arises if one
assumes that peak 4 is composed mainly of a hole trap.
As the sensitisation dose increases, the competitors to
peak 5 (electron traps) gradually fill and became less
effective, leading to the increase in the intensity of peak
5. The filled electron traps, however, transform into hole
traps (due to the change in the charge state), i.e. they
become effective competitors to peak 4, which in turn
192
leads to the decreased sensitivity of peak 4 as a function
of sensitisation dose. This diametrically opposite behav-
iour, the sensitisation of peak 5 compared to the desensi-
tisation of peak 4 is rather compelling evidence for the
opposite nature of the charge trapping characteristics of
these two peaks: peak 5 is an electron trap, peak 4 is a
hole trap.
The postulate that peak 5 arises from two possible
trapping configurations (electron and/or electron–hole
capture) is necessary to explain the dependence of the
supralinearity on ionisation density (5). The composite
structure of glow peak 5 was established by detailed
Tm–Tstop investigations of the glow curve of LiF:Mg,Ti
using alpha particle irradiation (10) and by the study of
the isothermal decay of peak 5 (11).
In the following we review other more recent experi-
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ments which also support the spatially correlated TC/LC
model for TL in LiF:Mg,Ti.
GLOW CURVE CHARACTERISTICS OF SINGLE
CRYSTAL LiF:Mg,Ti AS A FUNCTION OF Ti
CONCENTRATION
In this study, mixed-order (MO) kinetic analysis was
used to study the influence of Ti concentration on the
shape of peak 5 in both post-irradiation annealed
(165°C/15 min) (single glow peak) and post-irradiation
unannealed materials (four glow peaks). The ‘single
glow peak’ glow curves are especially useful in that
they lead to unambiguous results relatively free of the
possibility of deconvolution artefacts due to the pres-
ence of the overlapping low temperature peaks. Of
course, annealed and unannealed materials are possibly
somewhat different due to the effect of anneal, but we
are concerned only with the effect of Ti concentration
inside the set of annealed samples. In a single glow
peak, since the interference from adjacent peaks is larg-
ely eliminated, any variation of the deduced kinetic peak
shape parameters must be attributed solely to the effect
of Ti concentration. Glow curves were analysed
(following irradiation to a dose level of 12 Gy
(90Sr/90Y)) using the Ben Gurion University
CGCD/GMOK program (12). A typical example of a low
dose deconvoluted glow curve is shown in Figure 1.
Only peaks 2 to 5 are shown since the higher tempera-
ture peaks are not of crucial interest in this particular
experiment. CGCD allows careful study of the sensi-
tivity and shape of the various peaks (2–5) as a function
of Ti concentration and the sensitivity results are illus-
trated in Figure 2. The results for peak 5 are especially
interesting, showing a strong increase as the square of
the concentration of Ti, reaching a maximum intensity
at approximately 12–13 ppm. This quadratic depen-
dence could indicate that the TC/LC complex may be
the result of the incorporation of two Ti(OH)n or O com-
plexes perhaps coupled independently to two of the
dipoles participating in the formation of the Mg-Livac
trimer. The increase of peak 5 sensitivity by a factor ten
 SPATIALLY CORRELATED TC/LC MECHANISMS IN TL OF LiF:Mg,Ti
with increasing Ti concentration (Figure 2) is especially
dramatic compared to the much lower increase of a fac-
tor 3–4 observed for peaks 2– 4.
The dependence of the activation energy of peaks 2–
5 on Ti concentration using MO model computerised
analysis is shown in Figure 3. The activation energy of
peaks 2 and 3 is constant at 1.3 ⫾ 0.1 eV and 1.15 ⫾
0.1 eV respectively. The activation energy of peak 4,
however, increases from approximately 1.4 eV to 1.7
eV at the higher Ti concentrations with a correlated
decrease in the activation energy of peak 5 from 1.5–
1.6 eV to 1.25–1.4 eV at the higher Ti concentrations.
Similar trends were observed using GO model analysis
although only the MO model results are discussed herein
due to their more physical, less empirical, character.
The correlation, coupled with the approximately con-
published results of approximately 2 eV (under various
experimental conditions) for peak 5 in TLD-100.
Figure 4 shows the results of an additional analysis
with a slight presence of peak 4 included in the decon-
volution procedure. This, in order to investigate the
possibility that an increasing relative residual of peak 4
(following the 165°C anneal and due to the increasing
relative intensity of peak 4 at lower Ti concentrations)
might be influencing the results by leading to an arti-
ficial broadening of peak 5. At Ti concentrations above
10 ppm Weizman et al (13) assumed a residual intensity
of peak 4 relative to peak 5 of 1%, estimated, as
previously mentioned, from previous studies of post-
irradiation annealed TLD-100. At the lowest Ti concen-
trations of 3 ppm, the intensity of peak 4 relative to peak
5 is approximately 1:1 compared to 1:3 at the higher Ti

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stant width of the summed glow peaks (4+5), suggests concentrations. It follows that a reasonable ‘guesstima-
at least the possibility of a deconvolution artefact, aris- te’ of the residual of peak 4 at 3 ppm Ti following post-
ing from the difficulty in reliably separating the two
peaks. Since the presence of a deconvolution artefact
is difficult to prove or disprove by analytical methods,
Weizman et al (13) carried out the same study but in a 2 (a)
nearly ‘single glow peak’ glow curve, i.e. peak 5 only,
obtained following a 165°C/15 min post-irradiation
TL sensitivity (105 mg-1)

anneal. 1.5
The activation energy of isolated peak 5 (Figure 4)
is clearly a function of Ti concentration, increasing from
1 peak 5
E = 1.65 ± 0.1 eV at the lowest concentrations to a fairly
constant value of 1.9 ⫾ 0.1 eV above a Ti concentration
of 8 ppm. This behaviour might be due to a transition
which occurs at intermediate levels of Ti concentration 0.5
leading to the formation of an even more extended com- peak 4
plex with a greater number of participating Ti ions: the
0
extended complex possessing a high activation energy
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
and a higher luminescent efficiency. The high value of
Ti concentration (ppm)
E = 1.9 eV is in good agreement with many previously
1
(b)
100
0.8
peak 3
TL sensitivity (105 mg-1)

80
0.6
TL intensity

60
0.4
4
2 3
40 5 0.2 peak 2

20 1
0
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Ti concentration (ppm)
350 400 450 500
T(K) Figure 2. (a) TL sensitivities of peaks 4 and 5 as a function of
Ti concentration. (b) TL sensitivities of peaks 2 and 3 as a
Figure 1. Glow curve of LiF:Mg,Ti containing 80 ppm Mg and function of Ti concentration. An estimate of the error in Ti
3 ppm Ti. Analysis of this particular glow curve resulted in concentration is shown in Figure 2(a) as well as quadratic fit
the following activation energies: peak 2 (1.3 eV), peak 3 (1.1 (solid line) to the sensitivity of peak 5 as a function of Ti
eV), peak 4 (1.4 eV), peak 5 (1.5 eV). concentration.

193
 L. OSTER and S. BIDERMAN
irradiation annealing is approximately 3%. The glow
curves at 3 ppm and 14 ppm Ti were re-analysed introd-
ucing a fixed 3% and 1% relative intensity of peak 4
respectively. In this analysis, again, the data above 490
K were excluded in order to eliminate any possible
influence of peak 6 on the outcome. The results of this
analysis are shown in Figure 4. The trend of increasing
activation energy with increasing Ti concentration is
only slightly reduced, from 0.28 eV without the intro-
duction of the residual peak 4 to 0.22 eV with the intro-
duction of a residual peak 4.
The dependence of activation energy on Ti concen-
tration could be interpreted to mean that more than one
Ti complex is bound to the Mg trimers at the intermedi-
ate levels of Ti (approximately 10 ppm) corresponding
to those employed in the manufacture of TLD-100. Both
following manner. At low Ti concentration (⬍5–6 ppm)
only a single Ti(OH)n complex binds to the trimers and
this configuration has a relatively low TL efficiency and
lower activation energy. As the Ti concentration
increases, a significant number of the Mg-based com-
plexes bind two Ti(OH)n complexes and this latter con-
figuration has a far greater luminescent efficiency and a
higher activation energy. The activation energy of peak
5 is in fact a weighted average over the relative popu-
lation of the Mg trimers that bind either one or two of
the Ti(OH)n complexes.
THE COMPOSITE STRUCTURE OF GLOW
PEAK 5
The results of detailed Tm-Tstop investigations of the

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the rapid increase in TL efficiency and the more gradual glow curve of LiF:Mg,Ti (TLD-100) using gamma and
change in activation energy might be explained in the alpha particles (10) irradiation are shown in Figure 5(a,b).
Two satellite glow peaks (labelled 5a and 5b) are clearly
observed in the structure composing peak 5. Peak 5a (at
1.8 maximum temperature of 185°C) is very weakly popu-
(a) lated following gamma ray irradiation
1.7
The kinetics of composite peak 5 have recently been
Activation energy, E5 (eV)

1.6 investigated by Satinger et al (11) in a study of the iso-

thermal decay of peak 5. Three different activation ener-
1.5
gies were defined (Figure 6) corresponding to: (i) direct
1.4 geminate recombination between the locally trapped
electron–hole pair (peak 5a), (ii) the release of an elec-
1.3 peak 5 tron from the electron–hole occupied TC/LC complex
1.2 into the conduction band and (iii) release of an electron
from an electron-only occupied TC/LC complex.
1.1 The preferential population of peak 5a following high
ionisation density irradiation (its relative intensity is
1.0
approximately 35% that of peak 5 compared to no more
5 10 15
Ti concentration (ppm)
2.1
2.0
(b)
2.0
1.8 peak 4
with residual
Activation energy (eV)

1.9 peak 4
Activation energy (eV)

1.6

peak 1.8
1.4
2
1.7
1.2
peak
3
1.6
1.0

1.5
0.8
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Ti concentration (ppm)
Ti concentration (ppm)
Figure 4. The activation energy of peak 5 as a function of Ti
Figure 3. Activation energies as a function of Ti concentration concentration using mixed order analysis for the ‘single peak’
using mixed order kinetic analysis for the ‘four peak’ glow glow curves. The open squares are the results of the analysis
curves as shown in Figure 1. (a) Peak 5, note the decrease in ignoring the possible presence of a peak 4 residual, i.e. the
activation energy at the higher Ti concentrations. (b) Peak 2– glow curve is fitted with a single peak only. The full squares
4, note the correlated increase in the activation energy of peak are the results of the analysis with 3% and 1% peak 4 residual
4 at the higher Ti concentrations. at 3 ppm and 14 ppm Ti concentrations respectively.

194
 SPATIALLY CORRELATED TC/LC MECHANISMS IN TL OF LiF:Mg,Ti
than 5–10% following gamma irradiation) is naturally
explained via the identification of peak 5a with the
mechanism of geminate recombination, i.e. peak 5a
arises from recombination between the locally-trapped
electron–hole pair in the spatially coupled TC/LC struc-
ture.
310 nm OPTICAL BLEACHING: TRAP
CONVERSION
The optical absorption spectrum of irradiated
LiF:Mg,Ti is only slightly less complex than the TL
glow curve. At least seven optical absorption (OA)
bands have been identified. The 4.0 eV absorption band
has been associated with peak 5 by many investigators,
the 5.45 eV band, on the other hand, is believed to be
peak 5 is reversed and is only approximately 35% that
of peak 5. Using computerised glow curve deconvol-
ution, it is possible quantitatively to study the conver-
sion of peak 5 to peak 4. The conversion efficiency (CE)
is defined as,
I4(t) − I4(0)
CE(t) =
I5(0) − I5(t)
where I4,5(t) is the integral before bleaching (t = 0) and
after a bleaching time, t. The conversion efficiency is
simply the bleach-induced change in intensity of peak
4 divided by the change in intensity of peak 5. The con-
version efficiency of peak 5a is similarly defined except
that peak 5 intensities are replaced by peak 5a inten-
sities.
The simultaneous decrease and increase of the inten-

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the dominant competitor to peak 5 in both the excitation
and recombination stages (14). An example of the effect
of illumination by 310 nm (4.0 eV) light, i.e. a decrease
in the intensity of composite peak 5 accompanied by an
increase in the intensity of peak 4 is shown in Figure 7.
Without the bleach, the relative intensity of peak 4 to
(a)
20
5
15
TL intensity
sity of composite peak 5 and peak 4 respectively are
shown as a function of bleaching time in Figure 8. The
residual intensity of peak 5 following the bleach can be
described by the sum of two exponentials of mean-lives
1.1 ⫾ 0.2 and 16.9 ⫾ 1.8 min, indicating that two trap-
ping centres are involved. Using CE of composite peak
5 (5a+5+5b) previously defined and using the experi-
mental observation that this CE is independent of
bleaching time and equal to 0.32 ⫾ 0.07 (1 SD), the
increase of peak 4 can be fit by the sum of two
exponentials of the same mean-lives as those used in
the decay of composite peak 5.

The successful fit of both the decrease of peak 5 and

the increase of peak 4 with the same mean-lives and a
10
constant conversion efficiency supports the hypothesis
that the increase of peak 4 arises directly from ionisation
5 3 4 5a of electrons from the composite trapping structure of
5b
peak 5 (15). It seems highly unlikely, however, that trans-
fer of electrons from peak 5 to peak 4 via ionisation and
380 400 420 440 460 480 500 diffusion in the conduction band could result in such a
high conversion efficiency. Electrons in the conduction
T(K) band are presumed completely delocalised and thereby
subject to a myriad number of possible competitive
¥104 processes. It seems likely, therefore, that recapture of
5 electrons from the conduction band into the trapping
(b) structure of peak 4 would have a far smaller conversion
efficiency. Another important point to note is the fact
4
that other evidence (5) also suggests that peak 4 traps are
hole traps rather than electron traps.
TL intensity

3 Consider the high conversion efficiency under the

premise that peak 4 is a hole trap. The electron liberated
5
from the peak 5 trap must somehow convert to a hole.
2
One possible explanation for the conversion mechanism
3 was suggested by Mayhugh (16). He proposed that elec-
3a 4a 5b
1 4 5a 7a 7b trons optically ionised from peak 5 traps are captured
2 6 8 9 by V3 centres (two-hole centres) that release holes; the
10 holes from the thermally unstable remaining Vk centres
1
0
320 360 400 440 480 520 560 600 640 then migrate in the valence band and are eventually cap-
tured by unoccupied peak 4 traps. However, this multi-
T(K)
stage process, involving charge carrier diffusion in both
Figure 5. Fully deconvoluted glow curve of TLD-100 after: (a) transport bands, should also therefore be of very small
gamma irradiation, (b) alpha particle irradiation. efficiency. We suggest an alternate, more likely possi-

195
 L. OSTER and S. BIDERMAN

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Figure 6. Configurations of the TC/LC complex following irradiation (based on UNIM (5)): I. Captured electron and hole, II.
Electron, III. Hole only, IV. Empty configuration; independent LCs  and competing centres . (a) Three routes for recombi-
nation: the electron recombines with the hole inside the complex (solid arrow) giving rise to peak 5a (I); recombination of
electron from type I (ii) and type II (iii) configuration with external LC, with possibility of competition (dashed arrow) giving
rise to peak 5. (b) During bleaching, 310 nm light excites the electrons from a type I complex and the remaining hole transforms
the TC/LC configuration into a peak 4 trap (types I and III).

14
Normalised peak intensity

1
12
before
bleaching
10
TL intensity

4 4 0.1
3
5 5b
2
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Bleaching time (min)
380 400 420 440 460 480 500
T(K) Figure 8. The normalised intensity of peak 4 (⫻) and peak 5
(+) as a function of bleaching time. The lower broken lines
Figure 7. Deconvoluted glow curve of LiF:Mg,Ti (TLD-100) show the fast and slow components of the decay of peak 5 of
following gamma irradiation and bleaching with 310 nm light one and 17 min mean-lives respectively. The dashed line shows
with laser source (10 mW RMS) for 2 min. Note the growth the fit to the growth of peak 4 using a constant CE and the
of peak 4 at the expense of composite peak 5. The dashed line same values for the mean-lives as used for the decay of
presents the glow curve prior to the bleach. composite peak 5.

196
 SPATIALLY CORRELATED TC/LC MECHANISMS IN TL OF LiF:Mg,Ti
bility, involving the suggestion that peak 5a arises from
geminate recombination between a locally trapped e–
h pair.
In order to investigate the possibility that peak 5a is
responsible for the high CE, closely-stepped-in-tem-
perature pulsed (6 s) post-irradiation anneals (PIA),
from 170°C to 200°C in intervals of 4°C, were carried
out prior to the bleach. This procedure is intended
gradually to erase peak 5a. The conversion efficiency of
peak 5 to peak 4, for example, was measured at a PIA
temperature of 200°C, i.e. at a temperature where peak
5a is totally erased by the annealing procedure.
The conversion efficiencies of peak 5a to 4 and peak
5 to peaks 2, 3 and 4 as a function of post-irradiation
annealing temperature are shown in Figure 9. The con-
version efficiency of peak 5a to peak 4 is measured to
be 3 ⫾ 0.5 and is three orders of magnitude greater than
electron from an e-only occupied TC/LC complex leads
to peak 4 (if at all) only via conduction band/valence
band transport mechanisms which are subject to com-
petitive processes, therefore the three orders of magni-
tude lower conversion efficiency of glow peak 5 to glow
peak 4.
CONCLUSIONS
The dose response of many TL glow peaks behaves
in a linear then supralinear manner. The response of
glow peak 5 in TLD-100 increases linearly with 60Co
dose up to a critical dose level of a few Gy, then
becomes supralinear and reaches a maximum TL
efficiency of 3–4 (relative to the linear dose response
region) at approximately 300–500 Gy. Conventional

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the CE of peak 5 to peak 4.
This observation is strong evidence for the unique
structure of the peak 5a trap, i.e. that peak 5a is due to
a TC/LC structure, which has captured an e–h pair. On
the basis that peak 4 is a hole trap, the very high peak
5a-to-peak 4 conversion is now easily explainable.
Illumination by 310 nm light liberates an electron from
the trapped e–h, a trapped hole remains, leaving the
trapping structure responsible for glow peak 4 (Figure
6). No conduction band processes are involved, there-
fore the high conversion efficiency. Liberation of an
10
a ling capability of conventional kinetic theories and
1
Conversion efficiency
kinetic theories based on spatially uniform occupation
densities of the TCs and LCs following irradiation and
completely delocalised conduction band recombination
mechanisms are capable of modelling this behaviour.
They are not capable, however, of describing the unique
dependence of the maximum value of f(D) (the normal-
ised TL dose response) on ionisation density: f(D)
decreases with decreasing photon energy reaching a
value of typically 1.5–2 at gamma ray or electron ener-
gies below a few hundred keV. Furthermore the suprali-
nearity of peak 5 almost completely disappears for pro-
tons and alpha particles. This dependence on ionisation
density and particle species is totally beyond the model-
requires the concept of a spatially correlated TC-LC pair
in which the recombination can be localised and free of

competitive processes. For heavy charge particles

(HCP), the localised entity is the HCP track; the spati-
10-1
ally correlated TC/LC pairs for gamma rays and elec-
trons. At low dose, competitive processes during the
glow curve heating stage suppress luminescent recombi-
10-2
nation between nearest neighbours leading to the linear
c response. At higher dose levels, the efficiency of radiat-
b d
ive recombination increases due to the decreasing dis-
10-3 tances between the nearest-neighbours.

168 172 176 180 184 188 192 196 200 204
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
PIA temperature ( C)
This research was partially supported by a grant from
Figure 9. The conversion efficiencies (a) of peak 5a to peak 4 the United States — Israel Bi-National Science Foun-
and (b,c,d) peak 5 to peaks 2, 3 and 4 as a function of post-
irradiation annealing temperature.
dation (BSF), Jerusalem, Israel: Contract 9800014 and
a grant from Rashi Foundation.

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