Evidence for a critical dose above which damage to carbonate ester bonds in PADC appear after gamma ray and ultra soft X-ray exposures

Abstract It has been confirmed that the density of carbonate ester in poly(allyl diglycol carbonate) (PADC), which is a well-known polymeric nuclear track detector CR-39, begins decreasing above a critical dose of about 60 kGy during exposures to Co-60 gamma rays and Ultra Soft X-rays (USX: Kα (Al) with energy 1.49 keV). After exposure to Co-60 gamma rays at 77 K and room temperature (RT), a significant difference in Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) spectra has been observed at both sides of a critical dose of 60 kGy, where is a threshold for the degradation of carbonate ester in PADC. Namely, the types of free radicals in PADC are different from each other below and above this critical dose. …