Impact of electron irradiation on particle track etching response in polyallyl diglycol carbonate (PADC)

In the present work, attempts have been made to investigate the modificatio n in particle track etching response of polyallyl diglycol carbonate (PADC) due to impact of 2 MeV electrons. PADC samples pre-irradiated to 1, 10, 20 , 40, 60, 80 and 100 Mrad doses of 2 MeV electrons were further exposed to 140 MeV Si-28 beam and dose-dependent track registration properties of PADC have been studied. Etch-rate values of the PADC irradiated to 100 Mrad dos e electron was found to increase by nearly 4 times that of pristine PADC. T he electron irradiation has promoted chain scissioning in PADC, thereby con verting the polymer into an easily etchable polymer. Moreover, the etching response and the detection efficiency were found to improve by electron irr adiation. Scanning electron microscopy of etched samples further revealed t he surface damage in these irradiated PADCs.