A TRACK TECHNIQUE FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF TARGET THICKNESS USING HEAVY-IONS

A new application of the nuclear track technique, in the measurement o f target thickness, is presented here. A well collimated beam of 14.0 MeV/u U-238 ions was allowed to penetrate through thin foils of alumin ium, and the energies of the uranium ions emerging out of these foils were obtained from the maximum etchable track lengths in ZnP-glass det ectors and the calibration curve. The target thickness is then evaluat ed from the initial and the transmitted energy of the heavy ions, and the range-energy plots. The thicknesses of the aluminium foils have be en measured by this track technique and are compared with values obtai ned by the weighing method.