Ionizing radiation sensors utilizing optically stimulated luminescence in SnO-doped SrO-B2O3 and ZnO-P2O5 glass

Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) phenomenon is based on the presence of electron and/or hole traps and luminescence centers in storage phosphor materials. During exposure to ionizing radiation such as x-ray, γ-ray and β-ray, the traps are occupied with charged carriers such as electrons and holes that are created by irradiation with ionizing radiation. De-trapping of these carriers requires energy. The energy is provided by stimulating of the phosphor materials with visible or infrared light. During a de-trapping transition, free carriers created by the absorption of photons from the stimulating radiation field, recombine with the luminescence centers, whereby visible photons (OSL) are emitted. Since the OSL intensity is in the most cases proportional to absorbed dose of ionizing radiation, the phosphor materials which exhibit the OSL phenomenon adapt to two-dimensional imaging sensor for ionizing radiation. In this paper, we investigated the OSL characteristics of SnO-doped SrO-B₂O₃ glass and SnO-doped ZnO-P₂O₅ glass. Consequently, these glasses are useful as photostimulable phosphor materials of passive type sensor for ionizing radiation.