Recent applications of nuclear track emulsion technique

Abstract

A survey of recent results obtained using the nuclear track emulsion (NTE) technique in low energy applications is given. NTE irradiation with 60 MeV ⁸He nuclei provides identification of their decays at stopping, evaluation of the possibility of α range spectrometry, and observation of drift of thermalized ⁸Не atoms. Correlations of α particles studied in ¹²С → 3α splitting induced by 14.1 MeV neutrons indicate the presence of a superposition of 0⁺ and 2⁺ states of the ⁸Be nucleus in the ground state of ¹²С. Angular correlations of fragments are studied in boron-enriched NTE, and the prospects of NTE application in radioactivity and nuclear fission research are discussed. It is proposed to use an automated microscope to search for collinear tripartition of heavy nuclei implanted in NTE. Surface irradiation of NTE by a ²⁵²Cf source is started. Planar events containing fragment pairs and long range α particles, as well as fragment triples, are studied. NTE samples are calibrated using Kr and Xe ions with an energy of 1.2 and 3 A MeV.