Development and application of the electrochemical etching technique

Technical Report · Sun Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1984

OSTI ID:5561922

Sanders, M E

This report documents the advances achieved in the development and application of several etched damage track plastic dosimeters that can be used to measure dose-equivalent from neutrons with energies from thermal to 20 MeV. The project was initiated with the design of a rem-responding dosimeter that measured fast (> 1 MeV) neutron dose-equivalent as a function of the damage track density directly induced within the volume of polycarbonate foils amplified by electrochemical etching. Stillwagon (1978) adapted electrochemical etching of polycarbonate foils (ECEPF) to alpha dosimetry and used the technique to determine Pu-239 uptake in human bone. Su (1979) extended the usefulness of the ECEPF neutron dosimetry technique to encompass thermal neutron dose measurement. The thermal neutron dosimeter was composed of an external radiator tablet made of /sup 7/LiF in contact with a polycarbonate foil and utilized the thermal neutron-induced /sup 6/Li(n, ..cap alpha..)/sup 3/H reaction to give a dose-equivalent response as a function of alpha track density registered in the detector foil. An intermediate (1 eV-1 MeV) neutron dosimeter was developed and has been shown to give an approximately dose-equivalent response to neutrons with energies from 1 eV to 17 MeV. The intermediate neutron dosimeter consists of /sup 6/LiF-Teflon/CR-39 Polymer foil assembly which is enclosed by a (Cd + In) neutron filter. The neutron dose-equivalent is measured as a variable function of the damage track density registered in the CR-39 detector foil due to alpha particles from the 1/v dependent /sup 6/Li(n, ..cap alpha..)/sup 3/H reaction, recoil H, C, O nuclei from neutron-induced elastic scattering within the foil volume, and protons from the /sup 6/Li(n, p) reaction for neutron energies above 2 MeV. 46 figs., 6 tabs.

• Research Organization: Georgia Inst. of Tech., Atlanta (USA). School of Mechanical Engineering
• DOE Contract Number: AS05-76EV04814
• OSTI ID: 5561922
• Report Number(s): DOE/EV/04814-T2; ON: DE85010302
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

440102* -- Radiation Instrumentation-- Radiation Dosemeters
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
ALPHA PARTICLES
BARYON REACTIONS
BARYONS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CHARGED PARTICLES
DIELECTRIC TRACK DETECTORS
DIRECT REACTIONS
DOSE-RESPONSE RELATIONSHIPS
DOSEMETERS
DOSIMETRY
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
FAST NEUTRONS
FERMIONS
HADRON REACTIONS
HADRONS
HYDROGEN ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
LITHIUM 6 TARGET
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
NEUTRON DOSIMETRY
NEUTRON REACTIONS
NEUTRONS
NUCLEAR REACTIONS
NUCLEI
NUCLEON REACTIONS
NUCLEONS
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
PERSONNEL DOSIMETRY
PICKUP REACTIONS
RADIATION DETECTORS
RADIOISOTOPES
TARGETS
THERMAL NEUTRONS
TISSUE-EQUIVALENT DETECTORS
TRANSFER REACTIONS
TRITIUM
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES