Dose rate effects on the thermoluminescence properties of MWCVD diamond films

Synthetic CVD diamond, being non-toxic and tissue equivalent, has been proposed as a ionizing radiation passive dosimeter with relevant applications in radiotherapy and clinical dosimetry. In the present work, the thermoluminescence (TL) properties of microwave-assisted chemical vapor deposition (MWCVD) diamond, 6 μm thick film grown on (100) silicon substrates, were studied after room temperature γ-irradiation for 2.4, 3.1, 5.94, 13.1, 20.67, 43.4 and 81.11 Gy min−1 dose rates in the range of 0.05–10 kGy. At fixed irradiation dose the TL efficiency increases as the dose rate increases. As the dose increases the peak temperature at the maximum intensity of the TL glow curve is shifted about 10 K degrees toward the lower temperature side. The TL glow curve shape resembles first-order kinetics for low-radiation doses and second-order kinetics for higher doses. Linear dose behavior was found for doses below 200 Gy and supralinear for higher doses; respectively, with a significant dependence on the dose rate,...