Properties of sintered amethyst pellets as thermoluminescent dosimeters

The main dosimetric characteristics of amethyst, Brazilian natural semi-precious stone, were investigated in this work, in order to verify the possibility of its use for gamma-radiation detection using the thermoluminescent (TL) technique. The samples were tested in X- and gamma-radiation beams, and their TL glow curves, dependences of the response on the absorbed dose and radiation energy, and the response reproducibility were investigated. The preliminary results show the usefulness of this material in dosimetry for radiation processing. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]