Electron Irradiation Effects on Strength and Ductility of Polymer Foils Studied by Femtosecond Laser-Processed Micro-Tensile Specimens

Abstract

The influence of irradiation on mechanical properties of polymer foils used in spacecraft applications has widely been studied via macroscopic tensile samples. An increase in the local resolution of this investigation can be achieved by reducing the sample’s dimensions. A femtosecond laser enables a fast fabrication of micro-samples with dimensions from tens of μ m to the mm range, with ideally no influence on the material. Tensile experiments using such micro-tensile samples were conducted on FEP, Upilex-S and PET foils. The influence of the laser processing on the polymer foils was evaluated. Additionally an investigation of degradation due to electron irradiation was performed. Furthermore an outlook to extend this technique to depth-resolved measurements by preparing samples from locally thinned foils is presented. The study demonstrates the feasibility of femtosecond laser processing for rapid fabrication of micro-samples, enabling insights into the effect of electron irradiation on local mechanical properties of polymers.