Improvement in the sample mass-change-method used for determination of thebulk etch rate of CR-39 neutron detector

The bulk etch rate is an important parameter of any etch-track detector. An accurate measurement of the bulk etch rate is, therefore, highly desirable in the calibration of a CR-39-based neutron dosimeter. Amongst several ava ilable bulk etch rate measuring techniques, the sample mass change techniqu e is claimed to be the most accurate one. We carried out systematic experim ents and found that even this method has some limitations. The problems ass ociated with this method are discussed. To circumvent these problems, modif ications in the sample mass change technique have been suggested.