Etching of Submicron Pores in Irradiated Mica

As discovered by Price and Walker, small uniform pores may be created in muscovite by etching in HF thin samples that have been subjected to fission particle irradiation. The process of pore growth is followed by monitoring the conductance across a thin sample as the etching proceeds. For irradiation with 252Cf the tracks quickly etch to a radius of 33 Å-the region of primary damage. Further radial etching in the undamaged material is slow but increases to a fixed rate as the radius increases. This radius dependence of etching is interpreted by a kinetic analog of the Kelvin equation for vapor pressure over curved surfaces. With suitable assumptions on the mechanism of attack, the surface energy of the muscovite-solution interface is calculated to be about 300 ergs/cm2.