Observations of Charged‐Particle Tracks in Solids

The characteristics of tracks produced by fission fragments have been studied by transmission electron microscopy in the following layer structure materials: molybdenite (MoS2), talc, clinochlore, jefferisite, and various micas including biotite, phlogopite, muscovite, and synthetic fluor‐phlogopite. The measured track widths showed little correlation with the decomposition temperatures and it was concluded that the track formation cannot be described by a simple thermal spike model. The absence of any new rings or spots in the electron diffraction pattern of a heavily irradiated sample led to the conclusion that the tracks themselves consisted of a disordered region and not of a definable new crystalline phase. In many of the materials the tracks faded during observation in the beam. Although this fading could be eliminated by using a cold stage, it was not caused simply by the thermal instability of tracks; some materials which showed rapid track fading retained tracks to higher temperatures in external...