Development and characterization of MgO:Nd,Li synthesized by solution combustion synthesis for 2D optically stimulated luminescence dosimetry

The objective of this work is to investigate MgO:Nd,Li synthesized by solution combustion synthesis (SCS) as an optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) material for 2D dosimetry. We characterized the thermoluminescence (TL), OSL, radioluminescence (RL), OSL emission spectrum, and OSL luminescence lifetime of MgO:Nd,Li. We also carried out a preliminary investigation on the OSL signal stability. The results indicates that MgO:Nd,Li has luminescent and dosimetric properties suitable for 2D OSL dose mapping, including high sensitivity to ionizing radiation, signal stability for the period tested (1–13 day), wide dynamic range (<1 mGy–100 Gy) and a short luminescence lifetime (<30 μs). The main problems observed are the presence of shallow traps, which cause a short-term (<1 day) fading of the OSL signal, and the lack of reproducibility in the relative intensity of the TL peaks from sample to sample, indicating the need for further optimization of the synthesis process.