Damage structure of heavy ion track in polyethylene terephthalate film

Abstract

  Latent track structure formed in PET, polyethylene terephthalate, films has been investigated by means of FT-IR spectrometry. The stacked PET films were exposed to C, Ne, Ar, Fe, Kr, and Xe ions in air and the following three kinds of chemical damage parameters; effective track core radius, damage density, and radiation chemical yield (G scission) have been evaluated as a function of the stopping power. In the center of the track all functional groups are lost including phenyl ring, which is surrounded by the layer where the ester bonds and ethyl bonds are destroyed. The outset damage layer should lose the ethyl bonds only.