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February 23, 1940. Memorandum to: Doctor F. B. Flinn Subject: Radio-active Film Mr. Gordon and I have discussed the status of the above problem, and he suggests that I outline the progress for you. We have at the present time an experimental film which provides con- siderable alpha radiation and appears to possess the properties you require. Altho we have not subjected it to hard usage, the active deposit seems to be firmly attached, a factor we determined by a series of gamma ray measurements which indicate also that the emanation is not being released, but decays in the film and would therefore be effective for your work. The quantitative alpha ray measurements have not been completed, and will probably require several weeks more. Our measuring equipment requires some modification, and until it functions satisfactorily we will not be able to determine the success of our work. Rough preliminary work indicates that we are obtaining perhaps 20% to 25% efficiency, but this figure is subject to considerable modification. Because of the nature of this film, we would not care to release it for use until we are more certain that it is fool-proof. A film such as we originally discussed can be prepared. However, even such a film should be measured care- fully before released to forestall the possibility of its failure to work success- fully being attributed to the wrong factors. Here again, we must wait for the completion of our measurement equipment, unless you would oare to do your pre- liminary work and make the activity determinations later. If you prefer to take this course, we will prepare the film immediately and give you the results of our experimental work later.

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    "ocrText": "February 23, 1940.\nMemorandum to: Doctor F. B. Flinn\nSubject: Radio-active Film\nMr. Gordon and I have discussed the status of the above problem,\nand he suggests that I outline the progress for you.\nWe have at the present time an experimental film which provides con-\nsiderable alpha radiation and appears to possess the properties you require.\nAltho we have not subjected it to hard usage, the active deposit seems to be\nfirmly attached, a factor we determined by a series of gamma ray measurements\nwhich indicate also that the emanation is not being released, but decays in\nthe film and would therefore be effective for your work. The quantitative\nalpha ray measurements have not been completed, and will probably require\nseveral weeks more. Our measuring equipment requires some modification, and\nuntil it functions satisfactorily we will not be able to determine the success\nof our work. Rough preliminary work indicates that we are obtaining perhaps\n20% to 25% efficiency, but this figure is subject to considerable modification.\nBecause of the nature of this film, we would not care to release it for\nuse until we are more certain that it is fool-proof. A film such as we originally\ndiscussed can be prepared. However, even such a film should be measured care-\nfully before released to forestall the possibility of its failure to work success-\nfully being attributed to the wrong factors. Here again, we must wait for the\ncompletion of our measurement equipment, unless you would oare to do your pre-\nliminary work and make the activity determinations later. If you prefer to\ntake this course, we will prepare the film immediately and give you the results\nof our experimental work later."
}