Optimization and Thermoluminescence Study of the Nanophosphor BaSO4:Eu

In this work, first and foremost optimization of the nanocrystalline BaSO4:Eu has been presented by primarily varying the concentration of the rare earth element Europium (0.05, 0.10, 0.20, 0.50 and 1.00 mol %). Further, a comparative study of the nanophosphor with a well-established dosimeter i.e. TLD-100 (and by extension to CaSO4:Dy (TLD-900)) has also been reported here as a step towards finding an ideal TL dosimeter. The various batches of the said phosphor prepared by the chemical co-precipitation method have been investigated for their TL sensitivity property and it has been observed that BaSO4:Eu doped with 0.2 mol% Europium showed the highest sensitivity out of the lot. Moreover, when compared to the standard dosimeter, the optimized BaSO4:Eu (0.2 mol%) showed a higher sensitivity of about 28.52 times that of the Standard TLD-100 and 1.426 times higher than standard CaSO4:Dy (TLD-900). An extraordinary linear TL response curve over an extensive range of doses (10Gy to 2kGy) is yet another integral factor that makes the current phosphor quite promising for dosimetric purposes. Lastly, the optimized sample has been characterized using X-ray Diffraction (XRD) method.