Study of variations in structural, optical parameters and bulk etch rate of CR-39 polymer due to electron irradiation

Abstract

In this work, electron induced modifications on the bulk etch rate, structural and optical parameters of CR-39 polymer were studied using gravimetric, FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared) and UV–vis (Ultraviolet–Visible) techniques, respectively. CR-39 samples were irradiated with 10 MeV electron beam for different durations to have the absorbed doses of 1, 10, 550, 5500, 16 500, and 55 000 kGy. From the FTIR analysis, the peak intensities at different bands were found to be changing with electron dose. A few peaks were observed to shift at high electron doses. From the UV-vis analysis, the optical band gaps for both direct and indirect transitions were found to be decreasing with the increase in electron dose whereas the opacity, number of carbon atoms in conjugation length, and the number of carbon atoms per cluster were found to be increasing. The bulk etch rate was observed to be increasing with the electron dose. The primary objective of this investigation was to study the response of CR-39 to high electron doses and to determine a suitable pre-irradiation condition. The results indicated that, the CR-39 pre-irradiated with electrons can have better sensitivity and thus can be potentially applied for neutron dosimetry.

Spatial distribution of ion emission in gas-puff z-pinches and dense plasma foci

“…On shot no.1771, the CR-39 detector behind a 50 μm Al absorber recorded only a small spot which was created by protons or deuterons with energies above 2.3 MeV or 3.0 MeV, respectively (see figure 9(c)). The etching and the visibility of tracks could be influenced by high dose x-ray and electron irradiation [43][44][45]. Nevertheless, it was clear that the total number of >2MeV hydrogen ions emitted towards the anode was at least three orders of magnitude lower than towards the cathode.…”