Track lengths of energetic¹³²Xe ions in CR-39 detectors

Abstract

Studies of particle tracks in solids have wide ranging applications in many diverse fields of science and technology. Most of these studies require a precise knowledge of heavy ion track lengths or ranges in various knowledge of heavy ion track lengths or ranges in various commonly used solid dielectrics. We have measured the maximum etchable track lengths of '"Xe at 12 different energies ranging from 5.8 MeV/u to 17.0 MeV/u in CR-39 (Homalite). The ion beam with an initial energy of 17.0 MeV/u was degraded by aluminium foils of different thickness. The detectors were irradiated at an angle of 45' to the beam direction and were etched for a period of 2 4 hrs in 6N NaOH at 55°C to reveal the tracks. The track lengths were measured using an optical microscope and the maximum etchable track lengths were determined. The standard deviations have been evaluated and the experimental results are compared with theoretical values obtained from computer codes 'RANGE' and 'TRIM' and the program of Henke and Benton.

Etchable track lengths of 3.56 GeV 208Pb in various dielectric solids

“…The mean of deviations between experimental and theoretical ranges obtained from three computer codes HB, RANGE and TRIM was evaluated and found to be 3.0%, 4.2% and 1 1 .l %, respectively. This work has qualitatively supported some earlier findings (Dwivedi, 1991;Dwivedi et al, 1993b;Ghosh et al, 1988Ghosh et al, , 1994Jain et al, 1989Jain et al, , 1991Kocsis et al, 1993;Saxena and Dwivedi, 1990) barring a few cases (Ghosh et al, 1994;Kocsis et al, 1993) that the computer code 'RANGE' may be used to derive fairly reliable values of heavy ion ranges in complex solids. Though the validity of theoretical ranges of heavy ions from computer code 'RANGE' has been tested below 20 MeV/u, the program from Henke and Benton is applicable up to 500 MeV/u.…”

“…Recently Kocsis et al (1993) reported that theoretical ranges of :'Ne in CR-39 from code HB agree fairly well with the experimental values. The program TRIM is frequently used by groups engaged in ion implantation and heavy ion interactions due to its reliability at low energies but for higher energies (> 10 MeV/u) it has shown large discrepancies in a number of cases (Ghosh, 1990;Ghosh et al, 1994;Kocsis et al, 1993). For some ion-detector pairs (Dwivedi, 1991;Dwivedi et al, 1993b) the TRIM ranges are in good agreement with experimental ranges.…”

Impact of electron irradiation on particle track etching response in polyallyl diglycol carbonate (PADC)

“…If over a small etching time period, ¡Ø, the increase in track length is ¡Ä, then, Î Ì ¡Ä ¡Ø (3) If, Î Ì is a varying function of etching time, the critical angle of etching is given by × Ò ½´Î Î Ì µ (4) Critical angle of etching is the angle at or below which the damage trail of an impinging particle is not detectable. Critical angle in turn controls the efficiency of the detector.…”

“…It is a thermoset polymer that do not cross-link upon irradiation and are susceptible to interfacial degradation by a convenient etchant which constitutes an ideal polymer detector. Their amorphous nature and radiation sensitivity further enhance the track detection property [3]. It is about 100 times more sensitive than polycarbonate.…”