Abstract
Thermal annealing of latent tracks caused by the passage of heavy ions, viz. Pb208 (13.8 MeV/n) and Ni58 (15.37 MeV/n), in muscovite mica is investigated. The activation energy for track annealing, determined using different annealing models, is compared. The effect of thermal annealing on size and energy resolution of heavy ions in mica, based on the track etch rate and track length reduction, is discussed.