Abstract
Thermally stimulated current (TSC) of unirradiated and electron beam irradiated polyetheretherketone (PEEK) was investigated. PEEK films were irradiated in air for three kinds of doses: 50, 75MGy and 100MGy. When the biasing voltage Vb is not applied, spontaneous current starts to increase above 180°C, and the temperature at which this current increases rapidly shifts to a higher one with increasing the dose. Next, when Vb is applied at 100°C, 140°C and 180°C, peaks of TSC appear at about 120°C, 160°C and 180°C, respectively, and the peak temperature shifts to a higher one with increasing the dose. On the other hand, in the case of Tb=100°C, the peak value is very small, and hardly changes with increasing the dose. In the case of Tb=140°C, the peak value decreases a little with increasing the dose. However, in the case of Tb=180°C, the peak value shows the maximum at 50MGy, and its tendency is different from the others. From the results, it was considered that the molecular crosslinking in amorphous regions were advanced with increasing the dose, while dipoles and ions were increased by the collapse of molecules.
