End-of-track process

In former experiments with CeHe-CCU mixtures, only fa values were measured (113). Roduner (118) has also measured /r values, in particular at low CC14 concentrations (Fig. 3). Since it was proved that Mu atoms are the direct radical precursors for addition to CeHe, it was concluded that CC14, an excellent electron scavenger, inhibits Mu formation by scavenging spur electrons before their combination with fi+. This means that thermal Mu is formed in an end-of-track process fi+ + e — Mu. The rate constant of 2.7 x 1012 M-1 sec-1 for the reaction of CC14 with electrons shows that Mu is formed within a picosecond after the creation of the last spur. 

The above experiments show clearly that there are means to intercept end-of-track processes which occm on a time scale of tens of picoseconds to tens of nanoseconds. This has served to cool down vivid earlier discussions about the... 

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