Feasibility of lateral dose profile measurements in a small field using TLDs.

The purpose of this work was to study the feasibility of lateral dose profile measurements in a small field using thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs) and to evaluate the impact of the field size on the absorbed dose ratio factor f(md) of LiF and Al2O3 TLDs. The Monte Carlo package BEAM/EGSNRC was used to simulate the lateral dose profile in solid water phantoms (RW3 slab phantom) with various field sizes beyond the build-up region for 6 MV x-rays, and a LiF : Mg, Cu, P (GR-200) dosimeter with dimensions of 0.1 x 0.1 x 0.1 cm(3) was used to measure the lateral dose profile under the same conditions as the Monte Carlo simulations. To enable comparisons between dosimeters, Gafchromic (R) EBT3 films were used. The results indicate that (1) the measured results are in agreement with the simulated results within the uncertainty of the simulation; (2) the values of f(md) for Al2O3 and LiF in a 1 x 1 cm(2) field are 2.8% and 1.6% less, respectively, than those in a 10 x 10 cm(2) field; and (3) within the 80% profile region, the dose differences between TLDs and solid water are less than 1%. In the 80-10% profile region, the TLD results are in agreement with the absorbed doses in the solid water within 1 mm. It is generally acceptable to ignore the impact of field size on the absorbed dose ratio factor fmd when the field sizes are larger than 1 x 1 cm(2) for LiF and 2 x 2 cm(2) for Al2O3. For 6 MV x-rays, the small GR-200 chip can be used to measure the relative lateral dose profiles of small fields.