STUDY OF POLYCARBONATE DEGRADATION INDUCED BY IRRADIATION WITH HE+ IONS

A stack of five polycarbonate foils, each 1.4 mu m thick, was irradiat ed with 1.3 MeV He-4(+) ions to the dose of. 1.1 X 10(14) cm(-2). Ion beam induced polymer degradation, as a function of the particle energy , was studied by UV-VIS and IR spectroscopy of individual foils. In th e irradiated foils, a significant reduction of characteristic absorpti on bands is observed, indicating polymer degradation. Significant incr ease of the surface polarity, characterized by a polar component of th e surface free energy, is also found. Both the degree of the polymer d egradation and the surface polarity correlate with the total energy de posited by He-4(+) ions in the foils.