Depth-dependent temperature effects on thermoluminescence in multilayers

It is well known that thermal gradients penetrating deep into a material can preserve a memory of the temperature history of the surface. To date, this concept has been largely applied in the earth sciences, but there are many applications where a memory of rapid thermal events would be useful. For example, multiple layers of thermoluminescent films could serve as temperature sensors that indicate temperature versus depth in a microfabricated structure. As an advance toward this goal, this paper examines the effect of nonuniform temperature profiles on the thermoluminescence of heterogeneous multilayers. A Nd:YAG laser is used to create a known thermal event and apply pulses of heat energy of varying duration to a metalized thermoluminescent multilayer composed of LiF:Mg,Ti and CaF₂:Dy. The thermoluminescence of the system is measured before and after the applied laser pulse. To model the process, a finite-difference time-domain method is used to calculate the dynamic heat transfer, and the temperature distribution is plugged into a first order kinetics model of the thermoluminescence of each film to get a final luminescent intensity. A thermal contact conductance between the critical layers is also introduced. Dynamic temperatures in durations of hundreds of milliseconds are resolved with the technique, and simulation curves match experimental measurements to within 6% at 250 ms.