Abstract
Thin films of Fe dispersed polyimide (PI) were prepared on glass and silicon substrates by RF sputtering technique. Different concentrations of Fe viz 0.5, 1 and 5% were dispersed by simultaneous sputtering of polymer and Fe-metal. These films were irradiated with 120 MeV Ni10+ ion beam at a fluence of 5 × 1012 ions/cm2. Ion induced modification in optical, structural, surface and magnetic properties were studied. Optical study of these samples was carried out by using UV-VIS spectroscopy. Small shift in band gap is observed with increase in metal concentration. However no significant change was observed after irradiation as polyimide is highly radiation resistive material. AFM analysis reveals that average surface roughness of the samples increases after irradiation. Magnetic properties were studied by means of MFM and SQUID. MFM images reveal that the magnetic contrast increases with increasing the concentration of Fe in the composites which shows strong magnetization due to metal doping. However the contrast decreases after irradiation. SQUID also supports the MFM results.