PROTON RADIOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THIN CR-39 DETECTOR

Two parameters, track registration sensitivity and densitometric response in radiography with a low energy (approximately 4.5 MeV) proton beam and a stack of thin (100-mu-m) CR-39 detector foils were investigated. The optimum image quality was obtained at a layer removal thickness of about 1-mu-m. The image obtained under these conditions is characterized by a high track registration sensitivity (approximately 60%), high image contrast (the maximum value of the net optical density is approximately 0.7) and high spatial resolution (approximately 1-mu-m). The application of the technique in biomedicine is illustrated by proton radiographs of botanical samples.