Energy dependence of pMOS dosemeters

The results are presented of experimental work and numerical simulations of the energy response for pMOS dosimetric transistors in their custom packages. Specially produced radiation soft pMOS transistors were used in this experimental work. The irradiation of pMOS dosemeters was done using Co-60 and Cs-137 sources, a dosimetric X ray unit, and a radiotherapeutic linear accelerator in the range of photon energies from 21 keV to 8 MeV. The results show that package geometry and materials can significantly affect and smooth the energy dependence of pMOS transistors and that in custom transistor packages they are not tissue-equivalent dosemeters. Their response in the photon energy range of 45 to 250 keV is significantly larger than it should be (maximum dose enhancement factor can be as high as 8) and some energy compensation techniques must be used in order to fulfill the requirements of corresponding standards.