The two-step electrochemical etching technique applied for polycarbonate track etched detectors

Abstract The two-step ECE technique was optimized by varying the electrical field strength and applied for Makrofol DE for neutron dosimetry and radon monitoring using an electric field strength of 26.7 kV⋯cm −1 . In comparison with the previously applied combination of chemical and electrochemical etching, the neutron response was increased above a threshold of about 1.5 MeV by a factor of 3 to a value of 52 tracks⋯cm −1 ⋯mSv −1 . The background track density and its standard deviation of (6±2) cm −2 allows to indicate already 0.1 mSv. The alpha energy range was extended from an alpha window of about 1.5 MeV to an alpha energy range from 0.5 to 4 MeV.