Geometrical parameters of tracks registered by collimated alpha particles on CR-39 detector

Abstract The latent tracks formed on CR-39 solid state track detector on exposure of alpha radiations emanating from a collimated 241 Am source were developed by a chemical etching method. Alpha track images were captured by an optical microscope and were processed by using Image Pro-Plus (6.0) software. GEANT4 simulations were carried out to obtain the angular and energy distribution profiles of the alpha particles. Apart from fluence, geometric parameters like aspect ratio (the ratio of the major to minor axis) and the depth profiles of etched tracks were measured experimentally and correlated with simulated angular and energy profile of incident radiations. Reasonable agreement was observed in the fluence and depth profile information obtained from experiments and simulations.