Effects of high intensity ultrasound in chemical etching of particle tracks in solid state nuclear track detectors

Abstract

Experiments have been carried out to study the possible effects of ultrasonic energy in the chemical etching of particle tracks in plastic solid state nuclear track detectors. On irradiating the etching medium by ultrasound, temperature of etching medium rises and the rise in temperature depends on the acoustic power of the ultrasound. We have tried to isolate the effects produced by ultrasound by carrying out various experiments to observe the nature of the etched tracks, by measuring: (a) the bulk-etch rates and the track-etch rates, (b) variations of track densities and (c) the nature of the track profiles and comparing them with those observed in conventional chemical etching methods under identical conditions. The results showed significant changes in the track revelation properties of particle tracks in cellulose nitrate and Lexan solid state nuclear track detectors on ultrasound-induced etching as compared to conventional chemical etching method. The significant advantages of ultrasound-induced chemical etching over conventional chemical etching of particle tracks are: reduction in etching time, lower bulk-etch rates and relatively larger track-etch rates leading to an overall improvement in the track revelation process.