Phosphors for Radiation Detectors

9Radiophotoluminescence (RPL)

Go Okada¹, Takayuki Yanagida², Hidehito Nanto¹, and Safa Kasap³

¹ Co‐creative Research Center of Industrial Science and Technology, Kanazawa Institute of Technology, Hakusan, Japan

² Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Nara, Japan

³ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada

9.1 Introduction

Radio‐photoluminescence (RPL) is a luminescence phenomenon which is used for detection and measurement of radiation. Especially in the field of radiation measurement, it is often categorized as storage luminescence, as in thermally‐stimulated luminescence (TSL) and optically‐stimulated luminescence (OSL), as discussed in detail in earlier chapters of this book. The notable difference of RPL from the other phenomena is that the recorded signal is not lost by the readout process, and it is advantageous for a range of applications which require an extremely high accuracy of measurement. By using RPL, the readout process can be repeated multiple times to minimize statistical uncertainty. In addition, it is a very powerful tool when the measurement environment requires exposure to light or heat.

Despite the rareness of RPL studies and growing innovative works today, compared with TSL and OSL, the RPL nonetheless has a relatively long history. In 1921, the phenomenon of RPL was first reported by Przibram [1, 2] as a phosphorescence stimulated by light in activated inorganic crystals induced by γ‐rays, and ...