J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 31 (1998) 498–502. Printed in the UK PII: S0022-3727(98)86521-2 Measurements of range and energy loss of 208 Pb in Makrofol-G A Kulshreshtha, S Ghosh and K K Dwivedi Department of Chemistry, North Eastern Hill University, Shillong -793 003, India Received 1 August 1997, in final form 24 October 1997 Abstract. Ranges and energy loss of 17.1 MeV u −1 208 Pb ions in Makrofol-G polymer have been determined using a nuclear track technique. Calibrated polyallyldiglycol carbonate (PADC) detectors were used to determine the degraded energy of 208 Pb ions after they had passed through the various stacks of Makrofol-G. The energy-loss rates as a function of the depth of penetration and ion energy have been determined. The mean ranges of 208 Pb in Makrofol-G have also been measured at various energies up to 17.1 MeV u −1 . The experimental results are discussed and compared with the theoretical values obtained from four different computer codes. 1. Introduction The importance of solid state nuclear track detectors (SSNTDs) in studying the interaction of heavy ions with matter is quite well established. During the last few years lots of work has been done to characterize and improve track detectors for better detection sensitivity and charge and energy resolutions. Because of the simple methodology involved in the preparation and diversity in their usefulness, SSNTDs have found many applications. The wide variety of applications of SSNTDs in various fields includes particle identification [1, 2], measuring lifetimes of heavy unstable nuclear particles [3], development of microfilters [4, 5], single-pore membranes [6] and uses in multifragmentation reactions [7, 8], biomedical sciences [9, 10] and environmental science [11, 12]. Owing to the wide applications of SSNTDs and also due to the availability of energetic heavy-ion beams, more experimental data on the interaction of the heavy ions with new detector materials are needed in order to extend our search for newer SSNTDs. Since the maximum etchable track length and the rate of loss of energy to the material provide vital information about the detector material, it is desirable to have reliable and accurate data on heavy-ion ranges and energy loss in various complex materials for the characterization of any track detector. The polycarbonates have found their use in producing microfilters and single-pore membranes which further have their applications in the fields of biomedical sciences [9], environmental sciences [13], health physics [14] and superfluidity [15]. The production of microfilters and single-pore membranes requires irradiation of polymer foils with highly ionizing ions. Since experimental range and energy-loss data for Makrofol-G are scanty in the literature, the measurement of the energy loss and range of 208 Pb ions in Makrofol-G will provide useful information regarding the track formation response and application of this polymer in numerous fields. In view of these facts, the range and energy loss of 17.1 MeV u −1 208 Pb ions in Makrofol-G have been determined by the nuclear track technique [16]. The nuclear track technique is quite versatile and accurate. It does not require costly equipment, such as time of flight (TOF) [17], double time of flight (DTOF) [18], magnetic or recoil proton spectrometers [19]. For measurement of range and energy loss a sensitive track detector is calibrated for a desired heavy ion in terms of the maximum etchable track length as a function of ion energy. The target materials with precisely known thickness are placed before the same type of detectors and exposed to the same heavy ion of a given energy. The calibration curve and the measured track length in detectors give the energy of transmitted ions. An energy-loss curve may be plotted for transmitted energies as a function of target thickness [16]. In the present study, polyallyldiglycol carbonate (PADC) track detectors have been calibrated for energy measurement of 208 Pb ions in terms of the maximum etchable track length. The range and energy loss of 208 Pb ion in Makrofol-G foils are determined up to an energy of 17.1 MeV u −1 . The experimental data are compared with theoretical values computed from codes (i) RANGE [20] and (ii) TRIM [21] and the programs of (iii) Henke and Benton (HB) [22] and (iv) Hubert et al (HUBERT) [23] in order to assess their validity. 2. Experimental details 2.1. Target preparation Several rectangular pieces of size 20 mm × 15 mm were cut from 15 μm thin sheets of Makrofol-G (chemical composition C 16 H 14 O 3 , density 1.2). The stacks of 0022-3727/98/050498+05$19.50 c  1998 IOP Publishing Ltd