Conductometric study of the radial track etch rate: Free shape analysis

A general formula for data analysis in conductometric experiments on latent track structure has been obtained without any pore shape assumption. An it erative equation, which was derived from pore geometry defined in a rest fr ame model, enables us to estimate the precise pore shape of the latent trac ks during an etching. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films irradiated by Kr ions have been studied by this iteration technique. Radial etch rates re ach convergence after a few iteration cycles and are less affected by the e rror of the breakthrough time. The iteration technique also reveals that a cylinder approximation, which is widely used for calculating a pore size, o verestimates the transverse size of etched heavy ion tracks in the range le ss than 10 nm. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.