Electrochemical etching amplification of low-let recoil particle tracks in polymers for fast neutron dosimetry

Technical Report · Sat Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1975

OSTI ID:7364336

Sohrabi, M; Morgan, K Z

An electrochemical etching method for the amplification of fast-neutron-induced recoil particle tracks in polymers was investigated. The technique gave superior results over those obtained by conventional etching methods especially when polycarbonate foils were used for recoil particle track amplification. Electrochemical etching systems capable of multi-foil processing were designed and constructed to demonstrate the feasibility of the techniques for large-scale neutron dosimetry. Electrochemical etching parameters were studied including the nature or type of the polymer foil used, foil thickness and its effect on etching time, the applied voltage and its frequency, the chemical composition, concentration, and temperature of the etchant, distance and angle between the electrodes, and the type of particles such as recoil particles including protons. Recoil particle track density, mean track diameter, and optical density as functions of the mentioned parameters were determined. Each parameter was found to have a distinct effect on the etching results in terms of the measured responses. Several new characteristics of this fast neutron dosimetry method were studied especially for personnel dosimetry using various radiation sources such as nuclear reactors, medical cyclotrons, and isotopic neutron sources. The dose range, neutron energy dependence, directional response, fading characteristics, neutron threshold energy, etc. were investigated.

• Research Organization: Georgia Inst. of Tech., Atlanta (USA). School of Nuclear Engineering
• OSTI ID: 7364336
• Report Number(s): ORO-4814-5
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

440102* -- Radiation Instrumentation-- Radiation Dosemeters
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
BARYONS
DIELECTRIC TRACK DETECTORS
DOSIMETRY
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ETCHING
FAST NEUTRONS
FERMIONS
HADRONS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
NEUTRON DOSIMETRY
NEUTRONS
NUCLEONS
PARTICLE TRACKS
PERFORMANCE
POLYMERS
RADIATION DETECTORS
RECOILS
SURFACE FINISHING