title: Energy dependence of etch pit diameter in a CR-39 detector for alpha-particles with the energy from 1.29 to 5.48 MeV.
abstract: The characteristics for alpha-particle recording of CR-39 plastics was studied for practical use. Sample detectors were irradiated with alpha-particles at normal incident angle. The energy was varied from 1.29 to 5.48 MeV. Tracks of alpha-particles could sufficiently be recognized through the etch pit observation with 1 hour etching in 30% solution of NaOH at a temperature of 70 degrees C. The etch pit diameter decreased almost linearly with the energy of alpha-particles at the early stage of etching, which suggested the possibility of the estimation of alpha-particle energy. The energy resolution was evaluated from the FWHM of the measured distribution of etch pit diameters and found to be about 1.8 MeV for 1, 2 and 3 hour etching.
mesh_terms: D000512:Alpha Particles; D009678:Nuclear Energy; D009686:Nuclear Physics; D010969:Plastics; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D010969:Plastics