PARAMETERS INFLUENCING THE EXISTENCE AND THE OBSERVABILITY OF ETCHED TRACKS - APPLICATION TO ALPHA-PARTICLE DETECTION IN CR-39

In the various applications (particularly in the field of neutron dosi metry) where Solid State Nuclear Tracks Detectors (SSNTD) are used, th e registration characteristics of the type of SSNTD used must be estab lished in order to obtain information about the real number of ionisin g particles that were slowed down in the detector's material. The chem ical etching of alpha particle tracks has been studied in CR-39 SSNTDs based on two etching velocities. These two velocities have been compa red in order to find the condition for the etched track's existence du ring the etching process. This comparison leads to defining the delaye d time, t(d), which is the time between the beginning of the etching p rocess and the etched track's existence. This time has been introduced into our etching model and the experimental and calculated critical a ngles have thus been compared.