Effect of Alpha Energy on Track Characteristics

Radiation imaging using solid state nuclear track detectors is an important non destructive technique for estimation of radioactive species like plutonium, thorium etc. In this study, two alpha sources were used for imaging of alpha tracks. From the image analysis of the tracks, different track characteristics were analysed. The frequency distribution of track parameters is Gaussian in nature and is found to be affected by the energy of alphas. It was seen that the maximum of the frequency distribution was located at higher values of track diameter (or area) for the tracks registered with alphas of higher energy. This could be attributed to greater extents of structural changes within the polymer upon impingement of alphas with higher energy. The studies could prove to be a marker for the identification of alpha sources of different nuclides.