Radiofrequency-discharge plasma treatment of heavy ion-irradiated poly(ethylene terephthalate) films

The effects of treatment in a radiofrequency (RF) discharge plasma on the r ate of chemical etching of the tracks made by xenon ions (with an energy of similar to 1 MeV/nucleon) in poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PETP) films wer e investigated. The influence of plasma treatment conditions on the structu re and properties of nuclear track membranes formed by etching was studied. It was found that the RF plasma treatment of heavy ion-bombarded PETP film s leads to a decrease in etchability of both tracks and the starting polyme r matrix. The changes in track and matrix etchability due to crosslinking o f the polymer surface layer were shown to be responsible for the asymmetry of the track membrane structure.