Differentiation between tracks and damages in SSNTD under the atomic force microscope

We have observed three-dimensional sponge-like structures as well as strips of connecting pits on the surface of the LR 115 detector after etching, which can be confused with the small tracks formed after short etching time. We have employed an atomic force microscope (AFM) to study these “damages” as well as genuine alpha tracks for short etching time. It was found that while the track and damage openings could be similar in size and shape, the depths for the damages were consistently smaller. Therefore, the depth of the pits will serve as a clear criterion to differentiate between tracks and other damages. The ability to discriminate between genuine tracks from other damages is most important for etching for short time intervals.     

The method of simultaneous size and activity measurement of alpha emitting hot particles using multiple track analysis of solid state nuclear track detectors

Current work is concentrated upon the detection and analysis of hot particles from contaminated ground. Simultaneous measurement of parameters as activity and size of radioactive particle would have immense value for many applications in radiation protection and control of the environment. The algorithm and performance of multiple alpha track analysis is discussed.     

Calibration of CR-39 solid state nuclear track detector

Nowadays there are increasing uses of SSNTD on scientific works in Thailand. Currently we are using SSNTD as an important tool for confirming active fault zones in a province in which a new nuclear research reactor has been proposed to come up. Soil gas radon was measured by both active and passive methods. In the latter case CR-39 SSNTD was installed in a PVC tube of 50 cm long by 5 cm in diameter. The tubes were placed in 50-cm deep holes lining perpendicular to the faults’ trace for one week. In this paper we describe the method and the results on calibrating these detectors using a radon chamber and a NIST-traceable radium-226 standard source.      

Influence of intense soft X-ray radiation on the parameters of tracks induced in CR-39 and PM-355 solid state nuclear track detectors

This paper presents the results of the influence of soft X-ray radiation on craters induced in SSNTDs by energetic α particles and protons of energy in the MeV range. We checked two detectors of the PM-355 and CR-39 types in order to verify and compare their resistance to the harsh conditions of high-temperature plasma experiments. To determine this effect some detector samples were first irradiated with α particles emitted from natural α particle sources and protons delivered by a particle accelerator. After that these samples were exposed to soft X ray radiation emitted from an X ray tube and also from the PF-1000 Plasma Focus facility. Doses during X ray irradiations varied from 0 up to tens of kGy. The irradiated samples were then etched in steps and track diameters were determined versus the absorbed dose and etching time and compared with those measured in samples not exposed to X ray radiation.     

Effects of radiations on the characteristics of alpha and fission tracks in CR-39 detectors

Abstract

The effects of neutron, gamma and alpha radiations on the alpha and fission fragment tracks registration and revelation properties of CR-39 detectors (CR-39 and CR-39(DOP) were studied. It was found that the ratio of the bulk etch rate of irradiated to unirradiated (V_G(irr.)/V_G(unirr.) detectors is linearly dependent on dose. An exponential decrease in fission track densities with increase in neutron fluence was observed. The ratio of V_G(irr.)/V_G(unirr.) was found to be high in CR-39 than that in CR-39(DOP) exposed to the same reactor neutron fluence. The decrease in fission track densities with increase in neutron fluence was observed to be faster in CR-39 than in CR-39(DOP). This indicates that doping with dioctyl phthalate improves the radiation resistance of CR-39 detectors. It was observed that in detectors exposed to an alpha flux of the order of 9.36 × 10⁶ / cm², the fission track density was reduced by 11% and thereafter it remained constant. The results also indicate that thermal neutron fluence up to 7.01 ×10¹¹ neutrons/cm² does not affect the alpha and fission track densities. I.R. spectra were also studied to find out the nature of chemical changes produced by these radiations on CR-39.     

Use of CR-39 solid state nuclear track detector in neutron personnel monitoring

Neutron sources like ²⁴¹Am–Be, ²³⁹Pu–Be, ²⁵²Cf and 14.6 MeV neutron generator are being used in oil exploration industries as well as in research institutions. While handling these neutron sources, personnel may be exposed to neutrons. Also personnel working in reactors, accelerators may receive dose from neutrons. These exposed individuals need to be monitored regularly for measurement of neutron doses. The individual neutron doses can be estimated by using Kodak NTA films and CR-39 Solid State Nuclear Track Detector with a polyethylene radiator to increase sensitivity in front in holder. Nearly 1450 personnel are being monitored regularly throughout the country on a quarterly basis. In India, the monitoring system adopted for individual neutron dose estimation having energy from 100 keV and above is described in this paper. Background counts of 0.20 mSv could be measured with CR-39 SSNTD foil system and it has been successfully introduced for Fast Neutron Personnel Monitoring for the country.     

Study of semiconductors using solid state nuclear track detectors

Uranium trace characterization of crystalline GeS, sputtered thin films of GeS and amorphous SiH on quartz substrates, and crystalline p-type Si using the technique of solid state nuclear track detectors is reported. Concentration and distribution of uranium in these materials studied are presented. Using uranium as microprobe, it is observed that uranium prefers to be in the cleavage planes of GeS crystals. There seems to be a link between uranium concentration and the thermally induced defects in Si.     

Ferrofluidic masking of solid state nuclear track detectors during etching

This work presents a novel method for determining bulk etch rate of CR-39 during prolonged etching by masking the surface with a ferrofluidic film held in position by magnetostatic forces. The CR-39 etching conditions were 6.25 M NaOH solution for 24 h at temperatures ranging from 50 to 80 °C. After etching, the heights of the resulting un-etched plateaus were measured using a Talyscan 150 profilometer. The removed layer thicknesses ranged from 12 to 85 μm, giving corresponding bulk etch rates in the range 0.5–3.54 μm/h.     

A semi-automated hybrid algorithm for accurate detection and counting of chemically etched tracks

In this paper, we present an accurate and comprehensive semi-automated algorithm for detection and counting the chemically etched tracks on polycarbonate nuclear Track detectors. The proposed algorithm consists of two main phases: a preprocessing phase for image preparation and quality improvement. It uses a format conversion into gray-scale image and contrast enhancement procedure. The contrast enhancement procedure employs the first-order fuzzy moment of the image and the Sugeno class of fuzzy complements to maximize the parametric indices of fuzziness of the image. In one feature extraction phase, two intrinsic characteristics of tracks are defined and formulated as topological feature (TF) and chromatic feature (CF). TF refers to tracks shape and geometry which are characterized and quantized by calculating the local Gray Level Spatial Correlation histogram of the tracks and CF refers to the color intensity difference of the tracks borders and tracks centric areas. The CF characterizes this difference specified to the tracks. After the feature extraction phase, the algorithm enters the detection and counting phase in which the fuzzy sets of background, noise (including small objects, notches, etc.) and track are constructed. Detected objects are then characterized according to their membership values to the fuzzy sets. The algorithm is designed in order to be applicable for different forms of tracks and track counting systems. Accuracy, linearity, sensitivity to the input parameters and comprehensibility of the method are validated in the simulation section.     

Automation system for optical counting of nuclear tracks

An automation system consisting of the microscope, video camera and Pentium PC with frame recorder was created. The system provides counting of nuclear tracks on the SSNTD surface with a resolution of 752 × 582 points, determination of the surface area and main axis of the track. The pattern recognition program was developed for operation in Windows 3.1 (or higher) ensuring a convenient interface with the user. In a comparison of the results on automatic track counting with the more accurate hand mode it was shown that the program enables the tracks to be detected even on images with a rather high noise level. It ensures a high accuracy of track counting being comparable with the accuracy of manual counting for densities of tracks in the range of up to 2·10⁵ tracks/cm². The automatic system was applied in the experimental investigation of uranium and transuranium elements.     

Gamma and neutron dose measurements with solid state nuclear track detectors

An attempt has been made to explore the possibility of using solid state nuclear track detectors for the estimation of gamma and neutron doses based on the use of changes in activation energy of degradation of these detectors, due to irradiation (gamma-neutron), as a means of dosimetry. Thermogravimetry (TG) has been applied as a tool for these studies carried out on Lexan and CR-39 track detectors. A linear relationship observed between the decrease in activation energy and the dose (gamma-neutron) received by the detectors suggests the possibility of the use of these detectors as gamma and neutron dosimeters.      

Statistical variance reduction analysis in counting the highly overlapping nuclear tracks

In this paper, a statistical analysis is performed on counting the highly overlapping tracks. As the track density and tracks overlapping increase, the statistical error of track counting raises. An upper limit for the uncertainty of the track counting is found. The approximated number of tracks is computed based on the measured number of objects, approximated ratio of overlapping cases, measured number of tracks in the overlapping cases and calculated uncertainty. The approximation of the number of tracks obtained through both calculation and measurement processes is validated comparing with the real number of manually counted tracks and the uncertainty is calculated for each comparison.     

Annealing of heavy ion tracks in cellulose nitrate plastic track detectors

The effect of heat treatment on the latent tracks in cellulose nitrate plastic track detectors has been studied. The bulk etch rate increases with annealing temperature while the track diameters of different ions in cellulose nitrate decrease with increase in annealing time and temperature. Experimental results show that for heavier ions higher temperatures are needed for their complete erasure. The track length and track etch rate are decreased by the application of heat. Experiments reveal that annealing reduces track density. The vertical tracks are more stable than the oblique tracks and require higher temperature for their complete erasure.     

Time-resolved photoluminescence study of AgCl:Cd solid state nuclear track detectors

Crystalline AgCl:Cd²⁺ thin foils (Cd²⁺ concentration 62.5 – 5000 ppm) were studied by time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy in temperature range 20 – 80K using a mechanical phoroscope. Simple method is presented how to use the photoluminescence behaviour to check suitability of AgCl:Cd²⁺ foils to record high-energy particles tracks.     

Detection of energetic light charged particles by solid state nuclear track detectors

Experiments have been carried out to detect ₂ ³He particles and : rotons having energies up to 10 MeV/nucleon by using Kodak CA80-15, cellulose nitrate plastic track detector. Various etching conditions were tried in order to develop tracks for whole of the energy range considered. Detailed analysis seems to indicate that at high energies, the tracks are mainly produced by “secondaries” (elastically scattered nuclei of C, N, O and H, and other reaction products) while in the low energy region, the slowed down “primaries” play the dominant role. The prolonged etching factors of these detectors for different types of tracks have also been obtained and used to derive their average etchable ranges in the materials concerned.     

Detection of accelerated particles from pulsed plasma discharge using solid state nuclear track detector

The ion beam of a Mather-type 23.25 J plasma focus device operated with air filling at 10 Torr was registered using CR-39 nuclear track detector. The irradiated samples were etched in NaOH solution at 70°C for 1 h. It is found here that plasm a beam contains multi-components of microbeams. The individual track density of microbeams is estimated and the total current density of the plasma stream is measured to be 1.2 mA/cm². A model for counting the track density of individual microbeams is proposed here. Faraday cup measurements showed the ion pulse with energy ranging from 5.8 keV to 3.3 keV.      

Measurement of B concentration through autoradiography images in polycarbonate nuclear track detectors

The determination of the local concentration of boron in the different regions of tissue samples treated by Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) could be made through the evaluation of the number of tracks forming autoradiography images. It is necessary to get a “standard” material containing a known amount of ¹⁰B, to correlate the number of tracks and boron concentration, i.e. to be used as a reference.Different systems were tested in order to find a suitable standard. Films made of 2% agarose in boron solutions showed a homogeneous distribution of the ¹⁰B atoms in the material structure. This system is easy handled and its physical properties are satisfactory.On the other hand, a small volume polycarbonate box was designed to contain ¹⁰B solutions of known concentration. This system showed a reduced number of background tracks and a promising behavior in many aspects. There is proportionality between track numbers per surface unit and ¹⁰B concentration, and between track numbers per surface unit and neutron fluence. Experimental results were compared to calculated values through formulas developed for thick samples autoradiography.     

Long-term measurements of radon progeny concentrations with solid-state nuclear track detectors

In this paper, we review existing methods for long-term measurements of radon decay products with solid-state nuclear track detectors. We then propose a method to determine the equilibrium factor using the bare LR 115 detector. The partial sensitivities p_i of the LR 115 detector to and its α-emitting short-lived progeny, and , were investigated. We determined the distributions of lengths of major and minor axes of the perforated α-tracks in the LR 115 detector produced by , and through Monte Carlo simulations. The track parameters were first calculated using a track development model with a published V function, and by assuming a removed active layer of . The distributions determined for different α-emitters were found to be completely overlapping with one another. This implied equality of partial sensitivities for radon and its progeny.Equality of partial sensitivities makes convenient measurements of a proxy equilibrium factor F_p possible which is defined in the present work as (f₁+f₃) and is equal to the ratio between the sum of concentrations of the two α-emitting radon progeny to the concentration of radon gas . In particular, we have found F_p=(ρ/ρ_itC₀)-1, where ρ (track/m²) is the total track density on the detector, (for the V function mentioned above and for a removed active layer of ), t is the exposure time and C₀ (Bq/m³) is the concentration of . If C₀ is known (e.g., from a separate measurement), we can obtain F_p. The proxy equilibrium factor F_p is also found to be well correlated with the equilibrium factor between radon gas and its progeny through the Jacobi room model. This leads to a novel method for long-term determination of the equilibrium factor.Experimental irradiation of LR 115 detectors to known concentrations as well as known equilibrium factors were carried out to verify the present method. The relationship between ρ_i and the removed layer was then derived for the V function specifically determined for the LR 115 detectors we were using for the experiments. The actual removed layers for individual detectors after etching were measured accurately using surface profilometry. A curve showing the relationship between the removed layer and the track diameter of normally incident 3 MeV α-particles is also provided for other researchers, who do not have access to surface profilometry, to use the present technique conveniently.     

Single-sheet identification method of heavy charged particles using solid state nuclear track detectors

The theoretical and experimental investigations of the penetration of charged particles in matter played a very important role in the development of modern physics. Solid state nuclear track detectors have become one of the most important tools for many branches of science and technology. An attempt has been made to examine the suitability of the single-sheet particle identification technique in CR-39 and CN-85 polycarbonate by plotting track cone length vs. residual range for different heavy ions in these detectors. So, the maximum etchable ranges of heavy ions such as ⁹³Nb, ⁸⁶Kr and ⁴He in CR-39 and ⁴He and ¹³²Xe in CN-85 polycarbonate have been determined. The ranges of these ions in these detectors have also been computed theoretically using the Henke-Benton program. A reasonably good agreement has been observed between the experimentally and theoretically computed values.      

Geometry of etched charged particle tracks in crystalline detectors

Studies on the shape of etched fission tracks in crystalline detectors show that the track geometry carries valuable information on the crystal structure of the detector involved. The geometry of the etched tracks in crystalline detectors is a prism formed of certain crystal planes. In mica detectors, for given etching conditions the type and number of the planes depend on the incident angle and the extent of the radiation damage along the track. In a single track the type of crystal planes forming the track prism may change along the track resulting in dramatic variations of the track geometry at certain depth of focus.