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Temporal signal stability of KCl:Eu(2+) storage phosphor dosimeters.

ABSTRACT: Current KCl:Eu(2+) prototype dosimeters require a wait time of 12 h between irradiation and dosimetric readout. Although irradiating the dosimeters in the evening and reading on the following day works well in the clinical schedule, reducing the wait time to few hours is desirable. The purposes of this work are to determine the origin of the unstable charge-storage centers and to determine if these centers respond to optical or thermal excitation prior to dosimetric readout.Pellet-style KCl:Eu(2+) dosimeters were fabricated in-house for this study. A 6 MV photon beam was used to irradiate the dosimeters. After x ray irradiation, dosimeters were subjected to external excitation with near-infrared (NIR) light, ultraviolet (UV) light, or thermal treatment. Photostimulated luminescence (PSL) signal's temporal stability was subsequently measured at room temperature over a few hours using a laboratory PSL readout system. The dosimeters were also placed in a cryostat to measure the temperature dependence of the temporal stability down to 10 K.Strong F-band was present in the PSL stimulation spectrum, indicating that F-centers were the electron-storage centers in KCl:Eu(2+) where an electron was stored at a chlorine anion vacancy. Due to deep energy-depth (2.2 eV), F-centers were probably not responsible for the fast fading in the first a few hours post x ray irradiation. In addition, weak NIR bands were present. However, there was no change in PSL stabilization rate with intense NIR excitation, suggesting that the NIR bands played no role in the PSL fading. At temperatures lower than 77 K there was almost no signal fading with time. Noticeable PSL was observed for undoped KCl samples at room temperature, suggesting that Cl(2) (-) V(k) centers served as hole-storage centers for both undoped and doped KCl where a hole was trapped by a chlorine molecular ion. V(k) centers were stable at low temperature and became mobile at room temperature, probably causing the observed PSL fading with time. On the other hand, V(k) center could be stabilized by Eu(2+) activator or oxygen in the lattice, leading to the stable component in the PSL. A thermal process at elevated temperatures (60 °C or higher) was able to significantly accelerate the migration process resulting in a fast stabilization of PSL. However, this could not be accomplished using intense UV excitation.Thermal treatment enables KCl:Eu(2+) prototypes to be ready for readout in 1 h without the need of applying a large time-dependent correction factor. However, this cannot be achieved using optical preexcitation.

SUBMITTER: Xiao Z

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3574131 | biostudies-other | 2013 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Project description:PurposeAccurate two-dimensional (2D) profile measurements at submillimeter precision are necessary for proton beam commissioning and periodic quality assurance (QA) purposes and are currently performed at our institution with a commercial scintillation detector (Lynx PT) with limited means for independent checks. The purpose of this work was to create an independent dosimetry system consisting of an in-house optical scanner and a BaFBrI:Eu2+ storage phosphor dosimeter by: (a) determining the optimal settings for the optical scanner, (b) measuring 2D proton spot profiles with the storage phosphors, and (c) comparing them to similar measurements using a commercial scintillation detector.MethodsAn in-house 2D laboratory optical scanner was constructed and spatially calibrated for accurate 2D photostimulated luminescence (PSL) dosimetry. Square 5 × 5 cm2 BaFBrI:Eu2+ dosimeter samples were uniformly irradiated with line scans performed to determine the physical and electronic scanner settings resulting in the highest signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) at a sub-millimeter spatial resolution. The resultant spatial resolution of the scanner was then quantitatively assessed by measuring (a) line pairs on a standard X-ray lead bar phantom and (b) modulation transfer functions. Following this, 2D proton spot profiles from a Mevion S250i Hyperscan proton unit were obtained at 1, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 monitor unit (MU) settings at maximum energy (E0 = 227.1 MeV) and compared to baseline profiles from a commercial scintillation detector, where 1 MU is calibrated to deliver 1 Gy absolute proton dose-to-water under reference conditions, that is, 41 × 41 proton spots uniformly spaced by 0.25 cm within a 10 × 10 cm2 square field size at maximum energy (227.1 MeV) in water at depth of 5 cm at isocenter. The dosimetric system's sensitivities to (a) ±1 mm positional shifts and (b) ±0.3 mm beam lateral spread changes were quantitatively evaluated through a Gaussian fitting of the crossline and inline plots of the respective artificially shifted beam profiles.ResultsThe physical scanner settings of (a) Δτ = 27 ms time interval between data samples, (b) vx = 1.235 cm/s scanning speed, (c) 1% laser transmission (0.02 mW power) and (d) (Δx, Δy) = (0.33, 0.50 mm) pixel sizes with electronic settings of (a) 300 microseconds time constant, (b) normal dynamic reserve, (c) 24 dB/oct low pass filter slope, and (d) 160 Hz chopping frequency resulted in the highest SNR while maintaining sub-millimeter spatial resolution. The BaFBr0.85 I0.15 :Eu2+ storage phosphor dosimeters were linear from 1 to 50 MU and their profiles did not saturate up to 150 MU. The scanner was able to detect lateral displacements of ±1 mm in both the crossline and inline directions and ±0.3 mm beam spread changes that were artificially introduced by varying the incident proton energy. Specific to our proton unit, proton energy changes of ±1 MeV can also be detected indirectly via beam spread measurements.ConclusionOur combined dosimetric system including an in-house laboratory optical scanner and reusable BaFBr0.85 I0.15 :Eu2+ storage phosphors demonstrated a sufficient spatial resolution and dosimetric accuracy to support its use as an independent proton spot measurement dosimeter system. Its wide dynamic range allows for other versatile applications such as proton halo measurements.

Project description:Seagrasses are globally recognized for their contribution to blue carbon sequestration. However, accurate quantification of their carbon storage capacity remains uncertain due, in part, to an incomplete inventory of global seagrass extent and assessment of its temporal variability. Furthermore, seagrasses are undergoing significant decline globally, which highlights the urgent need to develop change detection techniques applicable to both the scale of loss and the spatial complexity of coastal environments. This study applied a deep learning algorithmto a 30-year time series of Landsat 5 through 8 imagery to quantify seagrass extent, leaf area index (LAI), and belowground organic carbon (BGC) in St. Joseph Bay, Florida, between 1990 and 2020. Consistent with previous field-based observations regarding stability of seagrass extent throughout St. Joseph Bay, there was no temporal trend in seagrass extent (23 ± 3 km2, τ = 0.09, p = 0.59, n = 31), LAI (1.6 ± 0.2, τ = -0.13, p = 0.42, n = 31), or BGC (165 ± 19 g C m-2, τ = - 0.01, p = 0.1, n = 31) over the 30-year study period. There were, however, six brief declines in seagrass extent between the years 2004 and 2019 following tropical cyclones, from which seagrasses recovered rapidly. Fine-scale interannual variability in seagrass extent, LAI, and BGC was unrelated to sea surface temperature or to climate variability associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation or the North Atlantic Oscillation. Although our temporal assessment showed that seagrass and its belowground carbon were stable in St. Joseph Bay from 1990 to 2020, forecasts suggest that environmental and climate pressures are ongoing, which highlights the importance of the method and time series presented here as a valuable tool to quantify decadal-scale variability in seagrass dynamics. Perhaps more importantly, our results can serve as a baseline against which we can monitor future change in seagrass communities and their blue carbon.

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Temporal signal stability of KCl:Eu(2+) storage phosphor dosimeters.

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