Radiation Dosimetry by a New Solid-State Effect

Ionizing radiation can induce strong electrical polarization phenomena in dielectic solids. These radiation-induced thermally activated depolarization (RITAD) effects are quite different from radioelectret effects. For nominally pure calcium fluoride samples, the RITAD signals show a signal-to-noise power advantage of 40 decibels over that of thermoluminescence signals measured under the same experimental conditions. Ease of measurement, very high radiation sensitivity, and simple sample fabrication requirements give the RITAD phenomena a great potential for use as a new solid-state dosimetry technique.