VERSION 3.0 ATOM SOFTWARE WITH BUILT-IN MOTORIZED STAGE CONTROL FOR OPTICAL MICROSCOPY ANALYSIS OF NUCLEAR TRACKS

We first developed a semi-automatic measuring system for the analysis of fission tracks. The first version of the ATOM software program was presented at the 15th conference on Particle Tracks in Solids in Marbu rg (Germany) and has previously been described. Since 1990, many impro vements have been made, resulting in version 3.0 which is presented in this paper. This version now has a built-in motorized stage control f or optical microscopy analysis of different kinds of nuclear tracks or other surface defects. Efforts were aimed mainly at improving the eff iciency of apatite fission track analysis (AFTA) and consequently, the external detector dating method can now be used with a motorized stag e which can be positioned automatically. Problems related to grain-ima ge recognition and counting surface adjustment have been solved and ag e determination is now even more accurate with this extension. Moreove r, preparation and analysis time have been reduced with an increased n umber of mounted grains. Statistical menus have also been improved, es pecially in the graphs of the results. Finally another software progra m has been written to enable data to be analyzed using the Excel softw are package (Microsoft) either with an IBM compatible or a Macintosh ( Apple) computer.