Glossary of Ion Track Technology
Ten terms from the world of ion tracks, explained briefly and with no prior knowledge needed.
Ion track
The narrow zone of altered structure that a fast, heavy ion leaves behind when it crosses a solid. Its diameter is on the order of a few nanometers.
Energy loss
The energy an ion gives up per unit of path length to the material it crosses. For fast, heavy ions most of it goes to the electrons.
Threshold
The energy loss value above which a lasting track remains in the material. It depends on the material.
Particle accelerator
A facility that brings ions to the energy needed to form tracks. Irradiation time and beam current set the density of the tracks.
Etching
A chemical treatment with a solution that removes the material along the track faster than its surroundings. This is how a track becomes a pore.
Nanopore
A channel with a diameter in the nanometer range. Etched pores can be cylindrical, cone-shaped or double-conical.
Track detector
A material in which incoming particles leave tracks that can be made visible by etching.
Fission tracks
Tracks created in minerals by nuclear fission and evaluated in geology.
Template method
A procedure in which an etched membrane serves as a mold: one side gets a conductive coating, metal is deposited electrochemically in the pores, and the polymer is then dissolved.
Replica
An image of a pore or surface, here the metal structure that has grown inside a pore: a wire, a tube or a cone.