Swelling in CR-39 and its effect on bulk etch-rate

• Published in: Radiation measurements Vol. 35; no. 4; pp. 301 - 305
• Main Authors: Malik, F, Khan, E.U, Qureshi, I.E, Husaini, S.N, Sajid, M, Karim, S, Jamil, K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.08.2002; Elsevier
• Subjects: Bulk etch-rate; CR-39 (Pershore); Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; Geochronology; Isotope geochemistry. Geochronology; Swelling; Swelling; Bulk etch-rate; CR-39 (Pershore); detection; etching; radiation damage; thickness; particle track; fission; fragments; swelling; irradiation; measurement; methodology
• ISSN: 1350-4487; 1879-0925
• DOI: 10.1016/S1350-4487(02)00053-7

The effect of swelling in CR-39, during the etching process has been studied using ‘thickness-measurement’ method. The values of the bulk etch-rate ( V B) determined by this method have been corrected in the context of irreversible swelling produced in various CR-39 samples. The results have been compared with those obtained using the ‘mass-measurement’ as well as the ‘fission fragment track diameter’ methods. The values of experimental V B have been obtained by taking the arithmetic average as well as by fitting the Gaussians to the results of a number of CR-39 samples. It is shown that the ‘thickness-measurement’ method is as good as the other methods of determining the bulk etch-rate provided sufficiently large number of CR-39 samples are used for obtaining the mean value from the Gaussian fit of the experimental data.