Energy calibration of a CR-39 nuclear-track detector irradiated by charged particles  

作　　者：Yue Zhang Hong-Wei Wang Yu-Gang Ma Long-Xiang Liu Xi-Guang Cao Gong-Tao Fan Guo-Qiang Zhang De-Qing Fang 

机构地区：[1]Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800, China [2]University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China [3]Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201210, China [4]ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, China

出　　处：《Nuclear Science and Techniques》2019年第6期1-9,共9页核技术（英文）

基　　金：supported in part by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(No.XDB160203);the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.11875311,11421505,and 11475245)

摘　　要：Charged particle diagnosis is an important aspect of laser–plasma experiments conducted at super-intense laser facilities. In recent years, Columbia Resin #39 (CR- 39) detectors have been widely employed for detecting charged particles in laser–plasma experiments. This is because the CR-39 polymer does not respond to electromagnetic pulses or X-rays. This study presents a method for calibrating the relationship between particle energy and track diameter in a CR-39 detector (TasTrak■) using 3-8 MeV protons, 6-30 MeV carbon ions, and 1–5 MeV alpha particles. The particle tracks were compared under the manufacturer’s recommended etching conditions of 6.25 mol/l NaOH at 98℃ and under the widely adopted experimental conditions of 6.25 mol/l NaOH at 70℃. The results show that if the NaOH solution concentration is 6.25 mol/l, then the temperature of 70℃is more suitable for etching proton tracks than 98℃ and employing a temperature of 98 ℃ to etch alpha-particle and carbon-ion tracks can significantly reduce the etching time. Moreover, this result implies that C3+ ion or alpha-particle tracks can be distinguished from proton tracks with energy above 3 MeV by controlling the etching time. This calibration method for the CR-39 detector can be applied to the diagnosis of reaction products in laser–plasma experiments.Charged particle diagnosis is an important aspect of laser–plasma experiments conducted at super-intense laser facilities. In recent years, Columbia Resin #39（CR-39） detectors have been widely employed for detecting charged particles in laser–plasma experiments. This is because the CR-39 polymer does not respond to electromagnetic pulses or X-rays. This study presents a method for calibrating the relationship between particle energy and track diameter in a CR-39 detector（TasTrak?） using3–8 MeV protons, 6–30 MeV carbon ions, and 1–5 MeV alpha particles. The particle tracks were compared under the manufacturer’s recommended etching conditions of6.25 mol/l NaOH at 98 °C and under the widely adopted experimental conditions of 6.25 mol/l NaOH at 70 °C. The results show that if the NaOH solution concentration is6.25 mol/l, then the temperature of 70 °C is more suitable for etching proton tracks than 98 °C and employing a temperature of 98 °C to etch alpha-particle and carbon-ion tracks can significantly reduce the etching time. Moreover,this result implies that C3+ ion or alpha-particle tracks can be distinguished from proton tracks with energy above3 MeV by controlling the etching time. This calibration method for the CR-39 detector can be applied to the diagnosis of reaction products in laser–plasma experiments.

关 键 词：CR-39 detector Energy calibration BULK ETCH rate ETCHING temperature 

分 类 号：TL[核科学技术]