Long-term stability of liquid ionization chambers with regard to their qualification as local reference dosimeters for low dose-rate absorbed dose measurements in water.

The long-term sensitivity and calibration stability of liquid ionization chambers (LICs) has been studied at a local and a secondary standards dosimetry laboratory over a period of 3 years. The chambers were transported several times by mail between the two laboratories for measurements. The LICs used in this work are designed for absorbed dose measurements in the dose rate region of 0.1-100 mGy min(-1) and have a liquid layer thickness of 1 mm and a sensitive volume of 16.2 mm3. The liquids used as sensitive media in the chambers are mixtures of isooctane (C8H18) and tetramethylsilane (Si(CH3)4) in different proportions (about 2 to 1). Operating at a polarizing voltage of 300 V the leakage current of the chambers was stable and never exceeded 3% of the observable current at a dose rate of about 1 mGy min(-1). The volume sensitivity of the chambers was measured to be of the order of 10(-9) C Gy(-1) mm3. No systematic changes in the absorbed dose to water calibration was observed for any of the chambers during the test period (sigma < 0.2%). Variations in chamber dose response with small changes in the polarizing voltage as well as sensitivity changes with accumulated absorbed dose were also investigated. Measurements showed that the LIC response varies by 0.15% per 1% change in applied voltage around 300 V. No significant change could be observed in the LIC sensitivity after a single absorbed dose of 15 kGy. The results indicate that the LIC can be made to serve as a calibration transfer instrument and a reference detector for absorbed dose to water determinations providing good precision and long-term reproducibility.