Study of LiOH etching of polyethyleneterephtalate irradiated with 11.4 MeV/amu Pb ions by neutron depth profiling and alpha particle transmission

Polyethyleneterephtalate (PETP) foils, 23 mu m thick, irradiated with 11.4 MeV/amu Pb ions to the fluence of about 1 x 10(7) cm(-2) were etched in 5M LIOH solution at the temperature of 40 degrees C for 30-570 min and the etc hing process kinetics was examined by combined alpha particle transmission (APT) and neutron depth profiling (NDP) techniques. The etching process was visualized from very initial stages up to the breakthrough and the appeara nce of first openings after about 300 min of etching. Several parameters ch aracterizing the etching process were determined and the pore internal pro file was determined by comparing the measured APT spectra with those simula ted by Monte-Carlo method. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserv ed.