Etching characteristics of cellulose nitrate LR 115 type 1 and measurement of neutron flux.

In this work we study the neutron induced charged particle tracks in cellulose nitrate LR 115 type 1, and its characteristic for measuring the neutron flux. The study include two parts; the first part is concerned with the study of bulk etch rate V and track etch rate V for neutron induced charged particle tracks in LR 115 type I
detector under different conditions of concentrations of NaOH etchant from (1-12 N), and temperatures between (30-70 °C) . The mass measurement of the detector after successive etching has been used to calculate the bulk etch rate, while the diameter measurement of the tracks has been used to calculate the track etch rate. The optimum etching conditions were found; the normality of the etchant ~ 6N at temperature T=50°C of etching time 50 min.. The activation energies for bulk and track etching rate have been found to be (0.95 eV) and (0.92 eV respectively. and critical angle ח ) ח Calculated values of the efficiency (n) and critical ngle (θc) under various experimental conditions are also presented. The efficiency was found to has maximum value at normality 6N and temperature T=50°C. The second part of this study deals with determination of the fast neutron flux of the neutron generator by using solid state nuclear track detector LR 115 type I and compare it with activation method.