Abstract
This paper demonstrates that that nuclear track detectors made of CR39 plates are suitable for detecting low energy protons and alpha-particles. The authors present evidence for a background line that arises from the interaction of neutrons with ${}^{17}$O inside the CR39 plate. This can be used for self-calibration of the CR39 detector
Highlights
We report on several measurements with different setups in different labs: research and devlopment studies at the TUNL at Duke University, energy calibrations measured at the Laboratory for Nuclear Science (LNS) of the University of Connecticut, and at the 3 MV van de Graaff at the Weizmann Institute of Science
All CR39 plates used in this extensive study are from the same “batch.” A measurement of the background of the CR39 plate was performed on line by studying the pits behind an absorber foil that stopped all charged particles
No significant ionizing radiation exists in the Institut Laue Langevin (ILL) cold neutron beam and the tracks in the CR39 must be produced inside the CR39 (C12H18O7) by the interaction of the cold neutrons with carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen atoms of the CR39 plate
Summary
Since the thermal neutron cross section of the 7Be(n, p) reaction is known to be very large (∼50 000 barns), one needs to reduce the proton rate in such measurements. In an attempt to understand the “excess counts” in the RRI above 1.4 micron, a bare CR39 NTD was irradiated with cold neutrons at the Institut Laue Langevin (ILL) at Grenoble, France, with a total thermal equivalent fluence of 2.0 × 1013 n/cm. In an attempt to understand the “excess counts” in the RRI above 1.4 micron, a bare CR39 NTD was irradiated with cold neutrons at the Institut Laue Langevin (ILL) at Grenoble, France, with a total thermal equivalent fluence of 2.0 × 1013 n/cm2 These cold neutrons (∼4 meV) cannot break molecular bonds (obviously, CR39 is stable at room temperature), and the CR39 NTDs are not sensitive to the direct cold neutron beam.
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