Scintillation properties of the YVO4: Eu3+ compound in powder form: Its application to dosimetry in radiation fields produced by pulsed mega-voltage photon beams

Abstract

The investigation of scintillation properties of europium doped yttrium orthovanadate shows the suitability of this material for fiber-based dose rate measurements. All measurements were carried out with a 6 MV Varian linear accelerator. The temperature dependence of the signal is lower than that of the plastic scintillators reported so far. By measuring the afterglow of probes between Linac-pulses, the signal due to the stem effect can be successfully eliminated. Comparison of depth dose profiles in a water phantom for radiation field dimensions between 1 × 1 cm2 and 10 × 10 cm2 shows that the probes are suitable for small fields having dimensions up to 1 × 1 cm2. The high light yield of probes having dimensions of 1 mm opens up the possibility for their use in spatially confined radiation fields, such as in intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and volume-modulated radiation therapy (VMAT).