Study of heavy ion tracks in cellulose nitrate(Russian) plastic track detector

Abstract The samples of Cellulose Nitrate(Russian) plastic track detector have been exposed vertically as well as at different angles of incidence with respect to the detector surface to 16 8 O, 20 10 Ne, 40 18 Ar, and 50 22 Ti ions of energies 8.75, 8.5, 7.4 and 4.9 (MeV/N) from heavy ion accelerator at Joint Institute of Nuclear Research (JINR) Dubna (Moscow) USSR. These exposed samples have been etched in 6.25NNaOH solution at 60°C. The variation of track diameter with etching time has been studied. The total etchable range for these heavy ions in this detector has also been measured experimentally. The energyloss rate, dE/dX and range of these heavy ions in this detector have been computed theoretically using the methods of Mukherjee & Nayak and Benton & Henke. Finally a comparison has been made with the experimental results.