Reading Dielectric Track Detectors Using Transmitted Particles

A new technique for measuring the number of tracks per unit area in a Dielectric Track Detector uses the energy spectrum of alpha particles transmitted through the detector. The spectrum contains two components. One is a low-energy peak due to alpha particles transmitted through the bulk material. The other is due to higher energy alphas that are transmitted through craters and lose less energy. The ratio of the number of higher energy alphas to the total number of alphas in the spectrum gives the fraction of area occupied by craters and hence the track density.