Fission fragment detection by thin film capacitors—I

Abstract

Heavy-ion detection by solid dielectrics has been so far obtained by chemical etching. In this paper the detection of fission fragments is based on the counting of breakdowns in thin films of solid dielectrics. These films are used as dielectric materials in capacitors with one electrode usually less than 1000 A thick. Breakdowns in such capacitors are non-shorting and can be repeated up to millions of times/cm² of the capacitor area. The property that makes these capacitors suitable for detection is that fission fragments induce breakdowns at electric fields distinctly lower than those due to the application of field alone. The characteristics of these new detecting systems are described and compared with those of the damage-track detectors.