Variation of general order kinetics parameters of thermoluminescence during glow curve readout

Abstract The general order kinetics (GOK) expression of thermoluminescence was proposed on the premise that retrapping may neither be neglected altogether nor assumed to have a probability coefficient equal to that of recombination. In the present paper it is shown that the parameters called the kinetic order (b) and the pre-exponential factor (s') vary while the glow curve is being readout and that their effective value for the full glow curve depends on the initial trap occupancy (dose). It is only under restricted conditions that the b and the s' become independent of trap occupancy. In the case of s', the dimensions also change with the results that the values of this parameter cannot even be compared with each other at different trap occupancies.