Alpha particle track coloration in CR-39: Improved observability

A comparative study of the observability of alpha particle tracks in CR-39 was performed with an optical microscope before and after coloration. The i mplantation of ink helped in observing the damage zones. At first glance th rough the microscope, the coloration makes the tracks stand out right away. This coloration is helpful, from the start, in the morphological study of the tracks (size, area, orientation, shape, perimeter). This operation is a dvantageous in distinguishing the alpha particle tracks from stains or scra tches. Thus, the routine counting of the tracks is more easily performed. C onsequently, this procedure allowed us: to decrease significantly the stand ard deviation of the approximate total of the parameters given from the ima ge analysis system (Olympus CUE2); to envision the possibility of reasonabl y decreasing the etching time in order to limit the loss of information cau sed by the destruction of the CR-39 during chemical etching and to use a we aker enlarging lens in order to cover a larger field of observation for the counting operations.