Analysing dosimetric characteristics of amethysts using thermoluminescence technique

In this study the dosimetric characteristics of some natural amethyst samples collected from Balikesir-Dursunbey are investigated by using thermoluminescence technique for the purpose of determining the suitability of them as dosimetric materials. Both a 90Sr/90Y beta source and a 60Co gamma source are used to analyse the TL glow curves obtained by irradiating the samples with beta particles and gamma rays. In this study, various experiments have been carried out for the investigation of the dosimetric properties of amethyst samples. Briefly, these experiments can be outlined as: XRD and XRF analyses, determining the annealing conditions, the effects of pre-irradiation annealing procedures on TL sensitivity, the investigation of the characteristics of TL glow curves and analyzing by the CGCD method, determination of trap parameters by the CGCD method and the Various Heating Rate Method, the dose response, the energy response, effects of the high dose on TL sensitivity, reproducibility and fading properties of the amethyst samples. The results obtained have shown that using the amethyst samples repeated times will change the TL sensitivity as an amount of less than 4%. The amethyst samples stored at the room temperature for the different time intervals and the reduction of 14% was recorded in TL intensity. The studied samples have linear dose responses for the absorbed doses ranging between 10 Gy and 1 kGy. Consequently, we investigated that amethyst samples can be used in high dose applications of radiation as dosimetric materials.