The incorporation of Ce³⁺ ions in silicate glasses is a crucial issue for luminescence-based sensing applications. In this article, we report on silica glass preforms doped with cerium ions fabricated by modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD) under different atmospheres in order to favor the Ce³⁺ oxidation state. Structural analysis and photophysical investigations are performed on the obtained glass rods. The preform fabricated under reducing atmosphere presents the highest photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield (QY). This preform drawn into a 125 µm-optical fiber, with a Ce-doped core diameter of about 40 µm, is characterized to confirm the presence of Ce³⁺ ions inside this optical fiber core. The fiber is then tested in an all-fibered X-ray dosimeter configuration. We demonstrate that this fiber allows the remote monitoring of the X-ray dose rate (flux) through a radioluminescence (RL) signal generated around 460 nm. The response dependence of RL versus dose rate exhibits a linear behavior over five decades, at least from 330 µGy(SiO₂)/s up to 22.6 Gy(SiO₂)/s. These results attest the potentialities of the MCVD-made Ce-doped material, obtained under reducing atmosphere, for real-time remote ionizing radiation dosimetry.

We present experimental characterization of both RIA (Radiation Induced Attenuation) and RL (Radioluminescence) of differently doped optical fibre radiation sensors. We present data for different sample lengths and Total Ionizing Dose (TID) up to 600 kGy (SiO ₂ ) under X-rays. Combined RIA and RL responses are used to attempt explaining the variation of the RL signal with TID on those fibres.

Optically activated glasses are essential to the development of new radiation detection systems. In this study, a bulk glassy rod co-doped with Cu and Ce ions, was prepared via the sol-gel technique and was drawn at about 2000 °C into a cylindrical capillary rod to evaluate its optical and radioluminescence properties. The sample showed optical absorption and photoluminescence (PL) bands attributed to Cu⁺ and Ce³⁺ ions. The presence of these two ions inside the host silica glass matrix was also confirmed using PL kinetics measurements. The X-ray dose rate was remotely monitored via the radioluminescence (RL) signal emitted by the Cu/Ce scintillating sensor. In order to transport the optical signal from the irradiation zone to the detection located in the instrumentation zone, an optical transport fiber was spliced to the sample under test. This RL signal exhibited a linear behavior regarding the dose rate in the range at least between 1.1 mGy(SiO₂)/s and 34 Gy(SiO₂)/s. In addition, a spectroscopic analysis of this RL signal at different dose rates revealed that the same energy levels attributed to Cu⁺ and Ce³⁺ ions are involved in both the RL mechanism and the PL phenomenon. Moreover, integrated intensities of the RL sub-bands related to both Cu⁺ and Ce³⁺ ions depend linearly on the dose rate at least in the investigated range from 102 mGy(SiO₂)/s up to 4725 mGy(SiO₂)/s. The presence of Ce³⁺ ions also reduces the formation of HC1 color centers after X-ray irradiation.