Electrical and Optical Properties of O⁶⁺ Ion Beam–Irradiated Polymers

Abstract

Variations in dielectric, optical, and structural properties of Lexan and Kapton-H irradiated to 80 MeV O⁶⁺ ion beam were analyzed at different fluences ranging from 10¹¹ to 10¹³ ions/cm² with a scanned beam current of 1 pnA. The structural modifications were characterized with the help of FT-IR and UV-vis spectroscopies. The electrical properties were investigated through capacitance and dielectric loss variations in ion-irradiated and pristine polymers at different frequencies. UV-vis absorption analysis indicates a decrease in the band gap energy in the two polymers. However, the decrease is much more prominent in Lexan (30%) than in Kapton-H (2.5%). The dielectric constant does not show appreciable variations after ion irradiation; however, a small increase has been noticed. An overall increase in the intensities of some typical bonds and stretching was observed in the FT-IR spectra of the pristine and ion-irradiated polymers.

Keywords:

• Band-gap energy
• Dielectric properties
• Ion irradiation
• Kapton-H
• Lexan
• Structural changes

Notes

Color versions of one or more of the figures in the article can be found online at www.tandfonline.com/gpac.