TRACK DENSITY MEASUREMENTS USING A VIDIMET-II A TYPE IMAGE ANALYSER

ABSTRACT The description of a simple image analyser system usable for counting fission, recoil and alpha tracks in different plastic detectors is presented. The system consists of an optical microscope on which a TV camera is mounted, an electronic logical unit which digitalizes the image and counts the tracks by the use of the Euler's topological equation. A TV monitor is connected to the electronic device to check the adjustment of the background discriminator and the digitalization. The system has been successfully used to count the over-etched recoil tracks in Kodak LR-115 red coloured detector but even better results were gained by CR-39, Lexan and different types of stripped polycarbonate foils. In the latter cases a combined etching-and-dyeing method was elaborated to enhance the track contrast.