Time-resolved Optically Stimulated Luminescence in Rose Quartz

Abstract

The use of natural materials, such as quartz, has been widely investigated in dosimetry (radiation detectors) because they have a lower cost than synthetic ones and can also be used in retrospective dosimetry. Quartz is largely to be found in Brazil, it is being investigated to act as a dosimeter using Thermoluminescence (TL) and Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) techniques. Recently we have studied some luminescent properties of rose quartz using the TL technique. We have concluded that this material presents a linear increase with an absorbed dose of beta radiation. However, at this moment, more in-depth investigations are proposed for the study of defects in rose quartz, such as studying the theoretical models involved and apply instrumentation varied of the OSL techniques (continuous optical stimulation, linearly-modulated optical stimulation, and time-resolved optical stimulation techniques). Therefore, the objective of this project is to carry out the theoretical analysis and the deconvolution of the OSL curves for the development of models that fit the OSL results obtained for rose quartz. The work will be supported by the luminescent research group at Rhodes University which has expertise in OSL from minerals.