Non-doped Na2CO3 Ceramics as a New Radio-photoluminescence (RPL) Material

In this letter, we report a new radio-photoluminescence (RPL) material. RPL is a phenomenon that new luminescent centers are generated by ionizing radiations. Sintered Na2CO3 ceramics in a vacuum showed PL band peaking around 430 nm under 340 +/- 40 nm excitation in which the intensity increases by X-ray irradiation. This evolution indicates a generation of a luminescent center by irradiation, a clear evidence of RPL. The majority of existing RPL materials are typically doped with luminescent ions; however, the present material was not intentionally doped. The RPL signal was observed as low as 0.1 mGy, which is an equivalent sensitivity of a commercial RPL dosimeter. For these reasons, the Na2CO3 ceramic is a promising candidate for RPL dosimeters.