Preliminary study on the properties of zinc oxide (ZnO) for alpha particles detection

Background: : Due to the difficulties of locally obtaining ZnS(Ag), preliminary investigation of the radioluminescence characterization of Zinc oxide (ZnO) for alpha particle detection was performed. Materials and Methods: The scintillation properties of ZnO films were tested using alpha sources (Am-241). The correlations between ZnO scintillation responses and irradiation time and source activity were also verified and compared with the response of a ZnS(Ag) detector. Results: The obtained results showed that the response of ZnO was linear with the exposure time, and the uncertainty of the repeatability was less than 1%. In addition, ZnO was found to have good radiation resistance over a wide range of doses. Conclusion: The preliminary results may be indicative that the proposed ZnO detector could be considered as a promising detector for alpha particles.