Experiment 24 - Mylar window

 Cell:

• Cathode:  2 cm of exposed 0.25mm Ag wire as close as possible to Mylar window
  • window: 1.5 cm x 1.5 cm hole machined in side of cell with Mylar window glued over it (with Devcon clear epoxy)
  • 1 cm x 1 cm Landauer CR-39 chip on the outside of the Mylar
• Anode:  Approximately 5 cm of 0.5 mm Pt wire with Pt screen spot welded on end  
• without magnets
• a "witness" piece of CR-39 was taped to the the outside of the cell (away from the cathode)

 Electrolyte:

• 27.5 gm D2O + 0.318 gm LiCl + 0.022 gm PdCl2

 Procedure:  

• 10mA for 48 hours

• 100mA for 24 hours

Etch:

• 6 hrs in 6.5M NaOH at 68C

Results (Started on 1.30.07 Ended on 2.2.07):

• Prior to attaching the chip to the outside of the Mylar window, the sides were sanded to ensure that nothing would puncture the thin film.  Although this was done carefully, the entire surface suffered wholesale damage.
• While no nuclear tracks were evident, this cannot be considered a successful test because of the mechanical damage