Kinetics of chemical etching of poly(ethyleneterephthalate) films irradiated by xenon ions

The kinetics of the chemical etching of PET films irradiated by xenon ions with an energy of 1 MeV/nucleon was studied. It was shown that if the proce ss of the film etching is preceded by annealing in air and aging in water, the kinetics of etching changes to an appreciable extent due to the occurre nce of various adsorption, desorption, and diffusion processes in the laten t tracks of ions in the polymer. As evidenced by the tritium label method, water which penetrates into the latent tracks exerts a plasticizing effect on the fractured polymeric material, favors its contraction, and provides i ncorporation of a part of volume occupied by the latent tracks into the etc hing zone along with the polymer surface.