Laser stimulated thermoluminescence

Experimental and computational methods are presented for the complete characterization of the thermoluminescence response obtained from thermoluminescent phosphors upon exposure to localized Gaussian laser heating beams. A number of different phosphor configurations are described as examples. These include LiF:Mg,Ti (TLD-100, Harshaw Chemical Corporation) in form of chips, which are widely used in the dosimetry of ionizing radiation, and thin-layer dosimeters prepared either as self-supporting films or powder in a polyimide matrix, or on substrates of LiF single crystals or borosilicate glass. It is demonstrated that all relevant optical and thermal properties of the dosimeters can be determined by these methods and that, based on this knowledge, the expected thermoluminescence response of a given configuration can be simulated as a function of a number of experimental parameters.