Implications and influences of laser polarization states on alpha particle lengths in CR-39 detector

The leverage of different polarization states of laser on CR-39 polymer is informed in this paper. The imperative objective is to corroborate the fluctuations in alpha track depths in the CR-39 detector as exposed to different laser polarization states. Four identical CR-39 samples were utilized: one was kept as a reference, while the remaining three were exposed to laser radiation (410 nm wavelength, 15 mW power, 20 kHz repetition rate, and 20 µs pulse duration) with linear, circular, and elliptical polarizations. The largest alpha track depth values are 13.81 ± 0.20 μm, 13.46 ± 0.18 μm, 13.71 ± 0.19 μm, and 14.31 ± 0.22 μm for elliptical, circular, linear, and pristine samples, respectively. The required etching times to reach the maximum track depths are 3.00 ± 0.03 h and 3.75 ± 0.03 h, corresponding to irradiated and pristine samples. The alpha track depths of irradiated samples reveal less etching time compared to unirradiated sample. The bulk etch rate values improve for irradiated samples and are 1.26 ± 0.01, 1.34 ± 0.01, 1.32 ± 0.01, and 1.29 ± 0.01 μm/h for pristine, linear, circular, and elliptical samples, respectively. increased for laser polarization states. The values of bulk etch rate improve for irradiated samples and are found to be 1.26 ± 0.01, 1.34 ± 0.01, 1.32 ± 0.01, and 1.29 ± 0.01 μm/h for pristine, linear, circular, and elliptical samples, respectively. CR-39 samples irradiated with laser radiation show enhancement in track etch velocity, the high value recorded for the linearly polarized sample. Similarly, advanced sensitivity (V) is recorded for irradiated samples. The evolutions of track growth are revealed to be laser polarization dependent. The UV-Vis analysis signifies an increase in the absorbance spectrum for laser polarization samples. The optical band gap energy of CR-39 detector is lowered for polarized samples due to the increase of free radicals. The chemical band modifications are examined via Raman spectroscopy and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The net absorbance at several wavelengths varied as the polarized laser changed, which is attributed to whether or not the bond orientations aligned with the applied laser polarization. The surface morphology and roughness for all CR-39 samples were studied. The crystal size for all polarized laser samples was decreased compared to the unexposed sample. This work demonstrates that laser irradiation can significantly alter the structural and etching properties of CR-39, which provides the possibility of enhancing the detection adaptation through moderate laser operation.