A new etchant for soda glass nuclear track detectors

Track registration and development characteristics of solid state nuclear track detectors depend not only on the nature of detector material, but also on the etching conditions. A new etching solution has been developed for soda glass nuclear track detectors in which etching is absolutely free from the adverse effect of 'etch product layer'. The track development properties of soda glasses have been studied by varying the composition of this solution and etchant temperature, and activation energies have been calculated. The largest observable diameter is increased by a factor of four. The optimal etching conditions of soda glass detectors for this etching solution have been inferred. A study of the spectrometric response of soda glass detectors to fission fragments of 252Cf shows that the energy resolution of these detectors with the use of new etchant becomes comparable with the energy resolution of phosphate glass detectors. (author)