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

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.