Thermoluminescence of beta irradiated SrHfO₃ powders synthesized by the Pechini-type sol-gel method

Here, we report on the thermoluminescence response of beta irradiated SrHfO₃ powders synthesized by the Pechini-type sol-gel process. Powders calcined at 900 °C for 6 and 8h exhibited the orthorhombic phase of SrHfO₃. The intensity TL response of SrHfO₃ samples, exposed to beta irradiation doses from 0.085 to 1530 Gy, was found to increase with the irradiation dose. The TL signal of both samples showed a linear behavior in the range of 2.55–51 Gy and a sublinear behavior for higher irradiation doses. At the dose of 25.5 Gy, the TL response of the sample processed with a calcination time of 6h had the best repeatability with a standard deviation of 3.48% and the lowest fade (12.85%) in the first 48 h. The T_max-T_stop process, initial rise method and glow curve fitting by computerized deconvolution were employed to determine the trap distribution and kinetic parameters. The TL glow curves of the samples were conveniently fitted by five glow peaks of first and second orders with activation energies ranging from 0.56 to 0.99 eV. Overall, the TL response of the samples showed to be influenced by the density and distribution of defects, mainly originated by oxygen and cation vacancies.