The response of CR-39 nuclear track detector to 1-9 MeV protons

N Sinenian; M J Rosenberg; M Manuel; S C McDuffee; D T Casey; A B Zylstra; H G Rinderknecht; M Gatu Johnson; F H Séguin; J A Frenje; C K Li; R D Petrasso

doi:10.1063/1.3653549

The response of CR-39 nuclear track detector to 1-9 MeV protons

Rev Sci Instrum. 2011 Oct;82(10):103303. doi: 10.1063/1.3653549.

Authors

N Sinenian¹, M J Rosenberg, M Manuel, S C McDuffee, D T Casey, A B Zylstra, H G Rinderknecht, M Gatu Johnson, F H Séguin, J A Frenje, C K Li, R D Petrasso

Affiliation

¹ Plasma Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139-0001, USA. nareg@psfc.mit.edu

PMID: 22047287
DOI: 10.1063/1.3653549

Abstract

The response of CR-39 nuclear track detector (TasTrak(®)) to protons in the energy range of 0.92-9.28 MeV has been studied. Previous studies of the CR-39 response to protons have been extended by examining the piece-to-piece variability in addition to the effects of etch time and etchant temperature; it is shown that the shape of the CR-39 response curve to protons can vary from piece-to-piece. Effects due to the age of CR-39 have also been studied using 5.5 MeV alpha particles over a 5-year period. Track diameters were found to degrade with the age of the CR-39 itself rather than the age of the tracks, consistent with previous studies utilizing different CR-39 over shorter time periods.