High Speed Microscope for Large Scale Ultra Heavy Nuclei Search using Solid State Track Detector

Abstract

A large scale observation program of ultra heavy nuclei ( Z ≥30) in galactic cosmic rays (UH-GCRs) is planned with the use of solid-state track detectors (SSTD) such as CR-39 plastic and BP-1 glass on the International Space Station and on board long-duration balloon flights. The handling of SSTDs usually requires a large number of year × person to scan and analyze the etch pits produced on the detector. It is due to the manual or semi-automatic analysis using a conventional optical microscope system. We plan to use a cosmic ray telescope with a large exposure area of 20 m 2 made of the SSTD stacks. Detector handling will be more difficult as compared with before. A major problem for such a large scale experiment is how to quickly and precisely analyze the etch pit obtained over a short period. We have developed a new microscope system, the HSP-1000, for high speed image acquisition that uses a line sensor camera in place of a traditional CCD camera. Continuous, automatic focusing of the microscope is ach...