Response of triafol-TN plastic track detectors to sup(238)U-ions

Triafol-TN plastic detector foils have been irradiated with sup(238)U ions of energy 16.34 MeV/u and the tracks produced have been observed using the chemical etching technique. The bulk etch rate and track etch rate are determined under successive chemical etching. The validity of Arrhenius's law is confirmed by the fact that the same value of Ea is obtained for these different concentrations, within experimental errors. The results show a linear correlation between the measured track etch rate along the track and the corresponding total energy loss rate and a threshold value of ∼5.0 MeV/(mg/cm2) for track registration was obtained. The maximum etched track length of sup(238)U-ion in triafol-TN has been compared with the theoretically computed range. (author). 15 refs., 3 figs., 3 tabs