A TRACK TECHNIQUE FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF TARGET THICKNESS USING HEAVY-IONS

A new application of the nuclear track technique, in the measurement of target thickness, is presented here. A well collimated beam of 14.0 MeV/u U-238 ions was allowed to penetrate through thin foils of aluminium, and the energies of the uranium ions emerging out of these foils were obtained from the maximum etchable track lengths in ZnP-glass detectors and the calibration curve. The target thickness is then evaluated from the initial and the transmitted energy of the heavy ions, and the range-energy plots. The thicknesses of the aluminium foils have been measured by this track technique and are compared with values obtained by the weighing method.