Effect of ion implant dose on the mechanical properties of polyethersulfone films

Abstract

Films of poly(ether sulfone) have been implanted with 50-keV As+ in the dose range of 1015 to 1017 ions/cm2. Nanoindentation tests were then conducted on these films using a conical diamond tip with a 90° included angle, applying loads from 10 μN to 2 mN. The modulus and hardness were evaluated from the load–displacement data using the elastic unloading [J. Mater. Res. 7, 1564 (1992)] and the elastic–plastic unloading [J. Mater. Res. 13, 421 (1998)] models. The latter approach gave more reliable values for the mechanical properties since it is not as sensitive to creep-in effects. The implanted film showed as much as a twofold increase in hardness compared to the unimplanted polymer. However, the films with the highest dose did not exhibit the maximum values for the mechanical properties. Hardness and modulus values increased with increasing implantation dose up to 1 × 1017 ions/cm2 but dropped at higher doses, presumably due to a combination of sputtering of material and surface roughening. The dose dependence of the mechanical properties is observed to have the same trend as are reported for the electrical properties.