Nanocrystalline $Ba0.97Ca0.03SO4:Eu$ for ion beams dosimetry

Nanoparticles of $Ba0.97Ca0.03SO4:Eu$ have been irradiated by 48 MeV $Li3+$⁠, 75 MeV $C6+$⁠, and 90 MeV $O7+$ ion beams with a fluence range of $1×109−1×1013ion/cm2$⁠. The thermoluminescence (TL) glow curves along with the response curves of this nanophosphor have been investigated and compared with those of the corresponding microcrystalline samples. TL glow curve of the nanophosphor exposed to $γ$-rays has also been included in the letter with the aim of reporting some of the comparative measurements. The glow curves of the ion-beam irradiated nanomaterials are similar in their shapes to those induced by gamma rays, with a shift in the peak positions to the higher temperature side by around 30 K. The TL intensity of the ion-beam irradiated nanomaterials is found to decrease, while going from low to high atomic number $(Z)$ ions (i.e., $Li3+→O7+$⁠). Similar trend was also observed in the linearity of the TL response curves. The response curve of Li ion irradiated nanomaterials is sublinear in the whole range of studied fluences. C ion has also a more or less similar response, while the O ion has a sublinear response over a shorter range of $1×109−1×1012ion/cm2$⁠, and above this range the response saturates. These results for the nanomaterials are much better than that of the corresponding microcrystalline sample irradiated by $Li3+$ ions. The curve was sublinear up to the fluence $1×1010ion/cm2$ and then saturates at higher fluences. The wider sublinear TL response of the nanocrystalline $Ba0.97Ca0.03SO4:Eu$ makes it superior to its corresponding microform and thus makes it a suitable candidate as a dosimeter to be used for detecting the doses of ions, especially the Li and C ions for their application in cancer radiotherapy and radiation biology.