Low energy X-ray dosimeter based on LYSO:Ce fluorescent powder

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Radiological Physics
• Scintillation Materials

Background:

• Cerium-doped lutetium yttrium orthosilicate (LYSO:Ce) is a promising scintillator material.
• Optimizing doping concentrations is crucial for enhancing material properties.
• Developing reliable radiation dosimeters is essential for medical and monitoring applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize LYSO:Ce powder using the co-precipitation method.
• To investigate the effect of Ce3+ doping concentration on the structural and luminescence properties of LYSO:Ce.
• To evaluate the performance of LYSO:Ce-based radiation dosimeters under X-ray irradiation.

Main Methods:

• Co-precipitation method for LYSO:Ce powder synthesis.
• X-ray diffraction (XRD) for structural analysis.
• Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy for luminescence characterization.
• Radioluminescence measurements under X-ray irradiation.

Main Results:

• The crystal structure of LYSO:Ce remained unchanged with varying Ce doping concentrations.
• Optimal luminescence performance was observed at 0.3 mol% Ce doping.
• LYSO:Ce exhibits a short fluorescence decay time.
• The developed radiation dosimeter showed a stable and linear response to X-ray doses (0.03–0.76 Gy) and dose rates (0.09–2.284 Gy/min).
• The dosimeter demonstrated a linear response in the low energy range (20–80 kV) relevant to radiotherapy.

Conclusions:

• The optimal Ce doping concentration for LYSO:Ce powder is 0.3 mol%.
• LYSO:Ce powder is suitable for developing radiation dosimeters with good stability and linear response.
• These LYSO:Ce powder dosimeters show potential for applications in remote radiotherapy and online radiation monitoring.