The chemical etching of fission fragment tracks in natural fluorite |
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| Authors: | Sohan L. Koul Lewis T. Chadderton |
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| Affiliation: | 1. CSIRO Division of Materials Science &2. Technology , Locked Bag 33, Clayton , Victoria , Australia , 3168;3. Institute for Advanced Studies, Research School of Physical Sciences, The Australian National University , GPO Box 4, Canberra , ACT , Australia , 2601 |
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| Abstract: | An experimental study of the mechanism for chemical etching of fission fragment tracks in the natural mineral fluorite is described. A systematic search showed that a 3:1 mixture by volume of sulphuric to hydrochloric acids was a most appropriate etchant. Experiments directed at determining the etching efficiency as a function of solvent temperature are also discussed. The preferential track etch ratioVt/Vg, the track length and the track density all depend upon the time and temperature of annealing. It is variations of the fission track density in fluorite, with etching time and annealing temperature, which make possible an overall geophysical interpretation of annealing data for the mineral in terms of the paleoisotherm of its intrinsic fission track clock. An interactive image analysis system INTIMAN, assembled for the swift and automatic readout of fission fragment track measurements, in both crystalline and non-crystalline materials, is described. Normal procedures for measuring and analyzing tracks are outlined. |
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| Keywords: | chemical etching electrochemical etching CR-39 track detector converter radiator detector sensitivity thermal- intermediate- fast-neutron dosimeter |
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