Thermoluminescence studies of Dy-doped BaAlF₅ nanophosphor for radiotherapy application

For cancer treatment, radiotherapy is one of the most trusted and efficient modalities in the healthcare field. Radiotherapy, for cancer treatment, commonly uses Gamma rays (Co-60 isotope) which is the most cost-effective and the most relevant method of treatment across the world. However, it becomes critically important to precisely measure the gamma dose incident on the patient’s body during treatment to improve the accuracy of dose delivery to the tumor. The present study was focused on the radiation measurement using as-developed thermoluminescence dosimeter (TLD) on cancer patients during radiotherapy. Herein, the Dy-doped BaAlF₅ phosphor was synthesized using the solid-state reaction method. For optimization, the BaAlF₅:Dy phosphors were annealed at different temperatures varied from 500 to 950 °C to improve the thermoluminescence efficiency. The optimal glow curve was obtained for BaAlF₅:Dy phosphor annealed at 900 °C, which peaked at 438 K. The phosphor showed linear dose–response from 50 cGy to 2 kGy and, beyond this level, it was saturated. The trapping parameters of the thermoluminescence glow curve, such as activation energy (E), and order of kinetics (b) were estimated by the glow curve deconvolution (GCD) method. Furthermore, the dose measurement study experiments were carried out on the cancer patient’s body to test the potentiality of phosphor for in vivo dosimetry. From the present study, it was inferred that the as-developed BaAlF₅:Dy phosphors can measure doses as low as 50 cGy. The newly explored promising dosimetric properties of BaAlF₅:Dy phosphors make them potential TLD materials and provide new prospects for utilizing these phosphors in the field of radiation therapy, medical dosimetry, and healthcare applications.