Study on dosimetric characteristics of polycarbonate films irradiated by electron beam

In this study, the dosimetric characteristics (thickness applicability, dose linear response, signal fading characteristic, in-batch consistency, readout reproducibility, humidity dependence, and electron energy response) of engineering polycarbonate films irradiated by electron beam were studied using spectrophotometry. The results show that polycarbonate films of various thicknesses exhibit good dose linearity within their corresponding wavelength ranges. Specifically, the dose capture range of 0.3 mm polycarbonate film spans from 950 Gy to 1000 kGy. After irradiation, the net absorbance of polycarbonate films showed an exponential decline, which was dose-dependent. The average absolute deviation of net absorbance for polycarbonate films produced within the same batch is 1.49% at 100 kGy. After 15 repeated absorbance measurements, the coefficient of variation in net absorbance for the polycarbonate films is less than 1%. Additionally, the radiation response of the polycarbonate film is affected by the environment relative humidity (during irradiation and post-irradiation storage). At the same dose of 3.5–20 MeV electron beam irradiation, the net absorbance response deviation of polycarbonate films remains below 2.26%. These results provide a comprehensive reference for detecting high doses of electron beams using engineering polycarbonate films.