Production of treeing in insulators at damage tracks

摘要

In most insulators heavy ions produce tracks of radiation‐damaged material which give rise to microscopic channels after appropriate chemical etching. By applying high‐voltage pulses through the irradiated insulator kept between two electrolyte cells containing the etching reagent, these damage tracks cause treeing phenomena. Preliminary results are shown dealing with the treeing production around fission fragment and agr;‐particle tracks in some organic insulators. Treeing at damage tracks provides a new method for initiating treeing processes and enables us to enlarge damage tracks considerably.