裂变径迹是1959年由哈威尔(Harwell)英国原子能研究组织的两位研究人员E.C.H.Silk和R.S.Barnes发现的。他们用重元素裂变所产生的离子去照射云母样品,发现这些离子的速度被减慢了,最后由于与矿物晶格原子发生一系列相互作用而被阻止下来。当这些离子减慢和被阻止下来以后,他们就留下了一些细小的线状轨迹。这些轨迹就是裂变碎片的“潜伏径迹”。 Fission tracks were discovered in 1959 by E. C. H. Silk and R. S. Barnes, two researchers at Harwell British Atomic Energy Research Organization. They irradiated the mica with ions produced by the fission of heavy elements and found that the speed of these ions was slowed down and finally stopped by a series of interactions with the mineral lattice atoms. When these ions slowed down and were stopped, they left some small linear trajectories. These tracks are the “fission tracks” of fission fragments.