Modification of high temperature and high performance polymers by ion implantation

Abstract

Several polymers with high temperature and high performance properties have been modified by ion implantation. Ions of As and Xe with energies of 50 keV and 180 keV have been implanted in the dose range of 1015 to 1017 ions/cm2. Electrical conductivities of these originally insulating polymers have been greatly enhanced after the ion implantation. Structural and compositional changes that accompanied these electrical enhancements were observed using infrared (IR) and Raman spectroscopies, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS), and elastic recoil detection analysis (ERDA) methods. Our high resolution data reveal a two-component conductivity that depends on both one-dimensional variable range hopping (VRH) and three-dimensional VRH. For lightly damaged samples (e.g., 1015 ions/cm2) the 1-D VRH is dominant while for highly damaged samples (e.g., 1017 ions/cm2) the 3-D VRH dominates.