Improving the energy response of external beam therapy (EBT) GafChromic{sup TM} dosimetry films at low energies (≤100 keV)
Purpose: Purpose of this work is to investigate the effects of varying the active layer composition of external beam therapy (EBT) GafChromic{sup TM} films on the energy dependence of the film, as well as try to develop a new prototype with more uniform energy response at low photon energies (⩽100 keV). Methods: First, the overall energy response (S{sub AD,} {sub W}(Q)) of different commercial EBT type film models that represent the three different generations produced to date, i.e., EBT, EBT2, and EBT3, was investigated. Pieces of each film model were irradiated to a fixed dose of 2 Gy to water for a wide range of beam qualities and the corresponding S{sub AD,} {sub W}(Q) was measured using a flatbed document scanner. Furthermore, the DOSRZnrc Monte Carlo code was used to determine the absorbed dose to water energy dependence of the film, f(Q). Moreover, the intrinsic energy dependence, k{sub bq}(Q), for each film model was evaluated using the corresponding S{sub AD,} {sub W}(Q) and f(Q). In the second part of this study, the authors investigated the effects of changing the chemical composition of the active layer on S{sub AD,} {sub W}(Q). Finally, based on these results, the film manufacturer fabricated several film prototypes and the authors evaluated their S{sub AD,} {sub W}(Q). Results: The commercial EBT film model shows an under response at all energies below 100 keV reaching 39% ± 4% at about 20 keV. The commercial EBT2 and EBT3 film models show an under response of about 27% ± 4% at 20 keV and an over response of about 16% ± 4% at 40 keV.S{sub AD,} {sub W}(Q) of the three commercial film models at low energies show strong correlation with the corresponding f{sup −1}(Q) curves. The commercial EBT3 model with 4% Cl in the active layer shows under response of 22% ± 4% at 20 keV and 6% ± 4% at about 40 keV. However, increasing the mass percent of chlorine makes the film more hygroscopic which may affect the stability of the film's readout. The EBT3 film prototype with 7.5% Si shows a significant improvement in the energy response at very low energies compared to the commercial EBT3 films with 4% Cl. It shows under response of 15% ± 5% at about 20 keV to 2% ± 5% at about 40 keV. However, according to the manufacturer, the addition of 7.5% Si as SiO{sub 2} adversely affected the viscosity of the active fluid and therefore affected the potential use in commercial machine coating. The latest commercial EBT3 film model with 7% Al as Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} shows an overall improvement in S{sub AD,} {sub W}(Q) compared to previous commercial EBT3 films. It shows under response at all energies <100 keV, varying from 20% ± 4% at 20 keV to 6% ± 4% at 40 keV. Conclusions: The energy response of films in the energy range <100 keV can be improved by adjusting the active layer chemical composition. Removing bromine eliminated the over response at about 40 keV. The under response at energies ≤30 keV is improved by adding 7% Al to the active layer in the latest commercial EBT3 film models.