Postirradiation effects in alanine dosimeter probes of two different suppliers.

The measurand relevant for the dosimetry for radiation therapy is the absorbed dose to water, DW. The Physikalisch- Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) is establishing a secondary standard for DW for high-energy photon and electron radiation based on electron spin resonance (ESR) of the amino acid alanine. For practical applications, like, for example, intercomparison measurements using the ESR/alanine dosimetry system, the temporal evolution of the ESR signal of irradiated probes is an important issue. This postirradiation behaviour is investigated for alanine pellets of two different suppliers for different storage conditions. The influence of the storage conditions on the temporal evolution may be dependent on the type of probes used. The measurement and analysis method developed at the PTB is able to circumvent the apparent difficulties in the case of alanine/paraffin probes. Care has to be taken in case this method cannot be applied.