The external detector method (EDM) is a widely used technique in fission track thermochronology (FTT) in which two different minerals are concomitantly employed: spontaneous tracks are observed in apatite and induced ones in the muscovite external detector. They show intrinsic differences in detection and etching properties that should be taken into account. In this work, new geometry factor values, g, in apatite, were obtained by directly measuring the ρ_ed/ρ_is ratios and independently determined [GQR]_ed/is values through the measurement of projected lengths. Five mounts, two of which were large area prismatic sections and three samples composed of random-orientation pieces have been used to determine the g-values. A side effect of applying EDM is that the value of the initial confined induced fission track, L₀, is not measured in routine analyses. The L₀-value is an important parameter to quantify with good confidence the degree of annealing of the spontaneous fission tracks in unknown-age samples, and is essential for accurate thermal history modeling. The impact of using arbitrary L₀-values on the inference of sample thermal history is investigated and discussed. The measurement of the L₀-value for each sample to be dated using an extra irradiated apatite mount is proposed. This extra mount can be also used for determining the g value as an extension of the ρ_ed/ρ_is ratio method. Eight apatite samples from crystalline basement, with grains at random orientation, were used to determine the g-values. The results found are statistically in agreement with the values found for apatite samples (from Durango, Mexico) measured in prismatic section and also measured at random orientation. There was no observable variation in efficiency regarding crystal orientation, showing that it is relatively safe using non-prismatic grains, especially in samples with paucity of grains, as it is the case of most basin samples. Implications for the ζ-calibration and for the calibration of the direct (spectrometer-based) fission-track dating are also discussed.

Studies of zircon grains using optical microscopy, micro-Raman spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) have been carried out to characterize the surface of natural zircon as a function of etching time. According to the surface characteristics observed using an optical microscope after etching, the zircon grains were classified as: (i) homogeneous; (ii) anomalous, and (iii) hybrid. Micro-Raman results showed that, as etching time increases, the crystal lattice is slightly altered for homogeneous grains, it is completely damaged for anomalous grains, and it is altered in some areas for hybrid grains. The SEM (energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, EDS) results indicated that, independent of the grain types, where the crystallinity remains after etching, the chemical composition of zircon is approximately 33% SiO₂:65% ZrO₂ (standard natural zircon), and for areas where the grain does not have a crystalline structure, there are variations of ZrO₂ and, mainly, SiO₂. In addition, it is possible to observe a uniform surface density of fission tracks in grain areas where the determined crystal lattice and chemical composition are those of zircon. Regarding hybrid grains, we discuss whether the areas slightly altered by the chemical etching can be analyzed by the fission track method (FTM) or not. Results of zircon fission track and U-Pb dating show that hybrid and homogeneous grains can be used for dating, and not only homogeneous grains. More than 50 sedimentary samples from the Bauru Basin (southeast Brazil) were analyzed and show that only a small amount of grains are homogeneous (10%), questioning the validity of the rest of the grains for thermo-chronological evolution studies using zircon FTM dating.

Characterization by micro-Raman spectroscopy of polymeric materials used as nuclear track detectors reveals physico-chemical and morphological information on the material's molecular structure. In this work, the nuclear track detector poly(allyl diglycol carbonate), or Columbia Resin .39 (CR-39), was characterized according to the fluence of alpha particles produced by a ²²⁶Ra source and chemical etching time. Therefore, damage of the CR-39 chemical structure due to the alpha-particle interaction with the detector was analyzed at the molecular level. It was observed that the ionization and molecular excitation of the CR-39 after the irradiation process entail cleavage of chemical bonds and formation of latent track. In addition, after the chemical etching, there is also loss of polymer structure, leading to the decrease of the group density C-O-C (~888 cm⁻¹), CH=CH (~960 cm⁻¹), C-O (~1110 cm⁻¹), C-O-C (~1240 cm⁻¹), C-O (~1290 cm⁻¹), C=O (~1741 cm⁻¹), –CH₂-(~2910 cm⁻¹), and the main band –CH₂-(~2950 cm⁻¹). The analyses performed after irradiation and chemical etching led to a better understanding of the CR-39 molecular structure and better comprehension of the process of the formation of the track, which is related to chemical etching kinetics.