Optically stimulated luminescence of natural NaCl mineral from Dead Sea exposed to gamma radiation

Abstract

In this work, the continuous wave - optically stimulated luminescence (CW-OSL) emissions of natural salt minerals, collected from Dead Sea in summer of 2015, were studied. The CW-OSL dose response of natural salt showed a linear range between 0.5 Gy and 10 Gy of gamma radiation of 60Co. Samples exposed at 3 Gy exhibited good repeatability with a variation coefficient of 4.6%. The CW-OSL response as function of the preheating temperature (50–250 °C) was analyzed. An increase of 15% of the CW-OSL response was observed in NaCl samples during storage period of 336 h. The results showed that the natural Dead Sea salt minerals could be applied as natural dosimeter of gamma radiation.