Ion radiation damage in plastic detectors

Plastic detectors are widely used for particle identification, micro pore and nano pore technology, neutron, gamma, radon and electron dosimeters. For some applications, plastic detectors have unique advantages among electronic detectors as 4 solid angles for ion identification in nuclear and cosmic ray physics; low-cost for massive use in indoors radon and neutron dosimeters; wide dose-range response for gamma and electron dosimetry; easy to use detectors in active geological faults in prospecting geothermal energy etc. There is a grate diversity of plastic detectors, which further improves their use in a particular application. However, the comparison test between different kinds of plastics can be time consuming, being therefore necessary to have methods for rapidly assessing plastic detectors properties. This invited talk deals in the first part with overview applications in Mexico of plastic detectors mentioned in the first paragraph. In the second part presents a general experimental relationship between the diameter-grow of positive ions tracks in several plastics for light ions, that allow to compare their energy resolution and to predict the track diameter of isotopes beams, as well as to predict the uniformity of micro pores. The formation of Nano pores produced by 238 U ions is also discussed. (Author)