Studying the physical parameters of a solid state nuclear track detector

Abstract

Solid state nuclear track detectors (SSNTDs) are widely used to measure various types of ionizing radiation. Thus, studying the physical parameters of SSNTDs, such as the bulk etch rate, the track etching efficiency and detector sensitivity which could affect the registration efficiency, is important. This paper presents a simple technique used to study the dependence of those characteristic physical parameters of SSNTDs on the alpha-particle energy. The detector sensitivity and the alpha track diameter were found to decrease exponentially with increasing alpha-particle energy’s, which implies that the SSNTDs can be used as alpha-particle spectrometers. The bulk etch rates of the LR-115 and the CR-39 detectors were found to be 3.75 ± 0.21 µm h⁻¹ and 1.72 ± 0.14 µm h⁻¹, respectively. Moreover, the calibration coefficients of the LR-115 and the CR-39 detectors, placed in a diffusion cup with a fiberglass filter exposed to radon source inside a 50 L calibration chamber (supplied by Genitron, Germany), were found to be 0.036 ± 0.004 and 0.17 ± 0.03 [α-tracks cm⁻² per (Bq m⁻³ day)], respectively.