Enhancement of the short component in the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) of lithium magnesium phosphate crystals due to Ag-doping

Thermoluminescence (TL) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) have long been used in dosimetry, and lithium magnesium phosphate (LMP) is a promising material for radiation detection. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of silver (Ag) doping in the constant-wave (CW)-OSL of LMP samples. LMP was synthesised through the solid-state method, with different Ag concentrations of 0.05, 0.10, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75 and 1.0 wt%. CW-OSL and TL were recorded and deconvoluted using a general-order kinetics (GOK) model. Correlations between these emissions were made based on the CW-OSL measured at different readout temperatures. Results demonstrated that the CW-OSL curve is composed of two components, the first having a lifetime shorter than 0.7 s and second-order kinetics. Component 2 has a lifetime of up to 13 s and nearly first-order kinetics. Ag-doping increased the sensitivity of component 1, the sample doped at 0.75 wt% Ag being the most sensitive. The doping also promoted changes in the lifetime and photoionisation cross sections, such that component 1 has longer decays in the doped LMP in comparison to the undoped sample. This effect can be correlated to the TL deconvolution results, which showed changes in the TL peaks’ contribution in the interval of 80–200 °C.