Interaction of oxygen (O+7) ion beam on polyaniline thin films

High-energy ion beam irradiation of the polymers is a good technique to modify the properties such as electrical conductivity, structural behaviour and mechanial properties. Polyaniline thin films doped with hydrochloric acid (HCl) were prepared by oxidation of ammonium persulphate. The effect of Swift Heavy Ions irradiation on the electrical and structural properties of polyaniline has been measured in this study. Polyaniline films were irradiated by oxygen ions (energy 80 MeV, charge state O⁺⁷) with fluence varying from 1 × 10¹⁰ to 3 × 10¹² ions/cm². The studies on electrical and structural properties of the irradiated polymers were investigated by measuring V-I using four probe set-up and X-ray diffraction (XRD) using Bruker AXS, X-ray powder diffractometer. V-I measurements shows an increase in the conductivity of the film, XRD pattern of the polymer shows that the crystallinity improved after the irradiation with Swift Heavy Ions (SHI), which could be attributed to cross linking mechanism.      

Radiation damage in triglycine sulphate due to fast neutron irradiation

Abstract

The change in electrical properties of TGS crystals due to induced defects created by fast neutron irradiation of two different energies (2 and 14 MeV) and different integrated neutron fluxes have been studied in the vicinity of phase transition. It is observed that the electrical conductivity increases with increase of neutron fluence up to 1.7 × 10¹⁰ n · cm^?2 and the values of the relative change of electrical conductivity in case of 2 MeV are higher than that of 14 MeV neutrons at the same neutron fluence (φ)     

Dielectric response of makrofol-KG polycarbonate irradiated with 145 MeV Ne6+ and 100 MeV Si8+ ions

The passage of heavy ions in a track detector polymeric material produces lattice deformations. These deformations may be in the form of latent tracks or may vanish by self annealing in time. Heavy ion irradiation produces modifications in polymers in their relevant electrical, chemical and optical properties in the form of rearrangement of bonding, cross-linking, chain scission, formation of carbon rich clusters and changes in dielectric properties etc. Modification depends on the ion, its energy and fluence and the polymeric material. In the present work, a study of the dielectric response of pristine and heavy ion irradiated Makrofol-KG polycarbonate is carried out. 40 μm thick Makrofol-KG polycarbonate films were irradiated to various fluences with Si⁸⁺ ions of 100 MeV energy from Pelletron at Inter University Accelerator Centre (IUAC), New Delhi and Ne⁶⁺ ions of 145 MeV from Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre, Kolkata. On irradiation with heavy ions dielectric constant (ɛ′) decreases with frequency where ɛ′ increases with fluence for both the ions. Variation of loss factor (tan δ) with frequency for pristine and irradiated with Si ions reveals that tan δ increases as the frequency increases. Tan δ also increases with fluence. While Ne irradiated samples tan δ shows slight variation with frequency as well as with fluence. Tan δ has positive values indicating the dominance of inductive behavior.      

Induced Electronic and Thermal Effects of 86 MeV Nickel Ions in Bisphenol-A Polycarbonate

Bisphenol-A polycarbonate films were irradiated with 86 MeV swift heavy nickel ions at varying fluences, ranging from 1 × 10¹¹ to 1 × 10¹³ ions cm^?2, under vacuum at room temperature, to analyze the induced electrical and thermal modifications. AC conductivity measurements and UV-visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques were applied to analyze the changes. A significant, exponential increase in conductivity at higher frequency was observed with the increase of nickel ion fluence. UV-visible analysis corroborated the results of the AC conductivity measurement, revealing the increase in size of the carbon clusters embedded in the polymer network, with the increase of heavy ion fluence. FTIR analysis revealed the formation of alkene and alkyne end groups at higher doses, which further supported the suggestion that the variation in electrical properties induced by the ion irradiation of the polymer was due to development of a carbonaceous phase inside the polymer due to the irradiation. Thermal analysis, i.e., TGA and DSC patterns, showed that chain-scission was the leading phenomena in the heavy ion-irradiated polycarbonate samples, resulting in degradation of their thermal stability.     

Temperature and frequency dependent electrical properties of 50 MeV Li3+ ion irradiated polymeric blends

The polymeric blends of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) with equal composition by weight have been irradiated with 50 MeV Li³⁺ ions at different fluences. The AC electrical properties of polymeric blends were measured in the frequency range 0.05–100 kHz, and at temperature range 40–150 ^°C using LCR meter. There is an exponential increase in conductivity with log of frequency and effect is significant at higher fluences. The value of tan δ and dielectric constant are observed to change appreciably due to irradiation. The loss factor (tan δ) versus frequency plot suggests that the capacitors of polymeric blend of PVC and PET may be useful below 10 kHz. No change in dielectric constant was observed over a wide temperature range up to 150 ^°C. Thermal stability was studied by thermogravimetric analysis. Thermal analysis revealed that chain scission is the dominant phenomena in the polymeric blends resulting in the reduction of its thermal stability. It appears from differential scanning calorimetry studies that the melting temperature decreases as fluence increases. FTIR spectra measurements also revealed that the material suffered severe degradation through bond breaking beyond the fluence of 2.3×10¹³ ions/cm².     

Modification of polyethylene terephthalate by proton irradiation

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films were irradiated with 3 MeV proton beams at different fluences. The microhardness, electrical, thermal and structural studies were carried out using microhardness tester, LCR meter, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and FTIR spectroscopy. Vickers' hardness has been observed to increase with the fluence. The true bulk hardness of the film was obtained at loads greater than 400 mN. The AC electrical conductivity is practically unaffected by irradiation up to a frequency of 10 kHz, but it is found to increase exponentially at a frequency of 300 kHz. The loss factor and dielectric constant are observed to change appreciably with the fluence. It is observed that there is no significant change in the stability of the polymer up to the fluence of 10¹⁴ ions cm^?2 as revealed by TGA and FTIR spectroscopy.     

Swift heavy ion provoked structural, optical and electrical properties in SnO2 thin films

SnO₂ thin films grown on glass substrates at 300 ^°C by reactive thermal evaporation and annealed at 600 ^°C were irradiated by 120 MeV Ag⁹⁺ ions. Though irradiation is known to induce lattice disorder and suppression of crystallinity, we observe grain growth at a certain fluence of irradiation. X-ray diffraction (XRD) revealed the crystalline nature of the films. The particle size estimated by Scherrer’s formula for the irradiated films was in the range 10–25 nm. The crystallite size increases with increase in fluence up to 1×10¹² ions?cm^?2, whereas after that the size starts decreasing. Atomic force microscope (AFM) results showed the surface modification of nanostructures for films irradiated with fluences of 1×10¹¹ ions?cm^?2 to 1×10¹³ ions?cm^?2. The UV–visible spectrum showed the band gap of the irradiated films in the range of 3.56 eV–3.95 eV. The resistivity decreases with fluence up to 5×10¹² ions?cm^?2 and starts increasing after that. Rutherford Backscattering (RBS) reveals the composition of the films and sputtering of ions due to irradiation at higher fluence.     

Electrical and structural properties of the swift heavy ion irradiated Au/n-GaAs schottky barrier diodes

Abstract

Au/n-GaAs Schottky Barrier Diodes (SBDs) have been fabricated on LEC grown silicon doped (100) GaAs single crystals. The SBDs were irradiated using high energy (120 MeV) silicon ion with fluences of 1 × 10 ¹¹ and 1 × 10¹² ions/cm². Current-Voltage (I-V) characteristics of unirradiated and irradiated diodes were analyzed. The change in the reverse leakage current increases with increasing ion fluence. This is due to the irradiation induced defects at the interface and its increase with the fluence. The diodes were annealed at 573 and 673 K. to study the effect of annealing. The rectifying behavior of the irradiated (fluence of 1 × 10¹² ions/cm¹²) SBDs improves upon as the annealing temperature increases and is attributed to the in situ self-annealing during irradiation. Scanning Electron Microscopic analysis was carried out on the irradiated samples to delineate the projected range and to observe defects.     

50 MeV Li3+ ion irradiation effect on structural, electrical, and dielectric properties of PVA-based nanocomposite polymer electrolytes

Nanocomposite polymer electrolyte thin films of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-orthophosphoric acid (H₃PO₄)-Al₂O₃ have been prepared by solution cast technique. Films are irradiated with 50 MeV Li³⁺ ions having four different fluences viz. 5?×?10¹⁰, 1?×?10¹¹, 5?×?10¹¹, and 1?×?10¹² ions/cm². The effect of irradiation on polymeric samples has been studied and characterized. X-ray diffraction spectra reveal that percent degree of crystallinity of samples decrease with ion fluences. Glass transition and melting temperatures have been also decreased as observed in differential scanning calorimetry. A possible complexation/interaction has been shown by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Temperature-dependent ionic conductivity shows an Arrhenius behavior before and after glass transition temperature. It is observed that ionic conductivity increases with ion fluences and after a critical fluence, it starts to decrease. Maximum ionic conductivity of ～2.3?×?10^?5 S/cm owing to minimum activation energy of ～0.012 eV has been observed for irradiated electrolyte sample at fluence of 5?×?10¹¹ ions/cm². The dielectric constant and dielectric loss also increase with ion fluences while they decrease with frequency. Transference number of ions shows that the samples are of purely ionic in nature before and after ion irradiation.     

Optical behaviour of swift heavy ions irradiated poly(vinyl alcohol) films

Polyvinyl alcohol films were irradiated to 90 MeV O ⁶⁺ and 150 MeV Si ¹⁴⁺ ions at fluence ranging from 10¹⁰ to 10¹² ions/cm². The observed changes in optical energy gap of this polymer have been investigated and results are tried to be explained in terms of energy transferred by the incident ions. It has been noticed that the value of optical energy gap decreases with increasing energy loss during the ion–polymer interaction process.     

Carbon (70 MeV) and copper (120 MeV) ions irradiation effects in Makrofol-N

Makrofol-N polycarbonate was irradiated with carbon (70 MeV) and copper (120 MeV) ions to analyze the induced effects with respect to optical and structural properties. In the present investigation, the fluence for carbon and copper beams was kept in the range of 1×10¹¹– 1×10¹³ ions/cm² to study the swift heavy ion induced modifications. UV–VIS, FTIR and XRD techniques were utilized to study the induced changes. The analysis of UV–VIS absorption studies revealed that the optical energy gap was reduced by 17% on carbon irradiation, whereas the copper beam leads to a decrease of 52% at the highest fluence of 1×10¹³ ions/cm². The band gap can be correlated to the number of carbon atoms, N, in a cluster with a modified Robertson's equation. In copper (120 MeV) ions irradiated polycarbonate, the number of carbon atoms in a cluster was increased from 63 to 269 with the increase of ion fluence from 0 to 1×10¹³ ions/cm², whereas N is raised only up to 91 when the same polymer films were irradiated with carbon (70 MeV) ions under similar conditions. FTIR analysis showed a decrease in almost all characteristic absorption bands under irradiation. The formation of hydroxyl (? OH) and alkene (C?C) groups were observed in Makrofol-N at higher fluence on irradiation with both types of ions, while the formation alkyne end (R? C≡ CH) group was observed only after copper ions irradiation. The radii of the alkyne production of about 3.3 nm were deduced for copper (120 MeV) ions. XRD measurements show a decrease in intensity of the main peak and an increase of the average intermolecular spacing with the increase of ion fluence, which may be attributed to the structural degradation of Makrofol-N on swift ion irradiation.     

Enhancement in electrochemical properties of ionic liquid-based nanocomposite polymer electrolytes by 100 MeV Si9+ swift heavy ion irradiation

Swift heavy ion (SHI) irradiation has been used as a tool to enhance the electrochemical properties of ionic liquid-based nanocomposite polymer electrolytes dispersed with dedoped polyaniline (PAni) nanorods; 100 MeV Si⁹⁺ ions with four different fluences of 5?×?10¹⁰, 1?×?10¹¹, 5?×?10¹¹, and 1?×?10¹² ions cm^?2 have been used as SHI. XRD results depict that with increasing ion fluence, crystallinity decreases due to chain scission up to fluence of 5?×?10¹¹ ions cm^?2, and at higher fluence, crystallinity increases due to cross-linking of polymer chains. Ionic conductivity, electrochemical stability, and dielectric properties are enhanced with increasing ion fluence attaining maximum value at the fluence of 5?×?10¹¹ ions cm^?2 and subsequently decrease. Optimum ionic conductivity of 1.5?×?10^?2 S cm^?1 and electrochemical stability up to 6.3 V have been obtained at the fluence of 5?×?10¹¹ ions cm^?2. Ac conductivity studies show that ion conduction takes place through hopping of ions from one coordination site to the other. On SHI irradiation, amorphicity of the polymer matrix increases resulting in increased segmental motion which facilitates ion hopping leading to an increase in ionic conductivity. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) measurements show that SHI-irradiated nanocomposite polymer electrolytes are thermally stable up to 240–260 °C.     

Effect of 100 MeV Si7+ ions’ irradiation on Pd/n-GaAs Schottky diodes

Pd/n-GaAs realized devices (junction made on a virgin substrate prior to irradiation) and Pd/n-GaAs fabricated devices (junction realized after the virgin substrate irradiation) have been irradiated with 100?MeV Si⁷⁺ ions for the varying fluence of 10¹²–10^13?ions/cm². The devices have been characterized by I–V and C–V techniques for an electrical response. The electrical characterization of these devices shows the presence of interfacial layer. Moreover, the C–V characteristics show strong frequency dependence behavior, which indicates the involvement of interfacial charge layer with deep electron states. The hydrogenation of these devices has not caused any significant change in the electrical (I–V and C–V) characteristics. The observed results have been discussed in the realm of radiation-induced defects, which cause the carrier removal and compensation phenomena to cause the observed high resistivity and filling and unfilling of these traps’ level to cause strong frequency dependence behavior.     

Optical and electrical properties of swift heavy ion beam-irradiated polycarbonate/polystyrene bilayer films

Polycarbonate/polystyrene bilayer films prepared by solvent-casting method were irradiated with 55 MeV carbon ion beam at different fluences ranging from 1×10¹¹ to 1×10¹³ ions cm^?2. The structural, optical, surface morphology and dielectric properties of these films were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV–visible spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, optical microscopy and dielectric measurements. The XRD pattern shows that the percentage of crystallinity decreases while inter-chain separations increase with ion fluence. UV–visible spectroscopy shows that the energy band gap decreases and the number of carbon atoms in nanoclusters increase with the increase in ion fluences. The refractive index is also found to decrease with the increase in the ion fluence. Optical microscopy shows that after irradiation polymeric bilayer films color changes with ion fluences. The FTIR spectra evidenced a very small change in cross-linking and chain scissoring at high fluence. Dielectric constant decreases while dielectric loss and AC conductivity increase with ion fluences.     

An investigation on the variations in properties of Ni+ irradiated ZnO thin films

ZnO thin films, irradiated by 80 MeV Ni⁺ ions, were analysed with the help of different characterization techniques like X-ray diffraction, optical absorption, transmission, photoluminescence (PL), electrical resistivity, photosensitivity (PS) and thermally stimulated current (TSC) measurements. Crystallinity and absorption edge were hardly affected by irradiation. PL spectrum of pristine sample showed a broad peak at 517 nm, whereas irradiated film had two emissions at 517 and 590 nm. Intensity ratio between these two emissions (I₅₁₇/I₅₉₀) decreased with the fluence, and finally at a fluence of 3×10¹³ ions/cm², the emission at 517 nm completely disappeared. Electrical resistivity of the sample irradiated with a fluence of 1×10¹³ ions/cm² drastically increased. However, on increasing the fluence to 3×10¹³ ions/cm², resistivity decreased, probably due the onset of hopping conduction through defects. PS also decreased due to irradiation. TSC measurements on pristine sample could reveal only one defect level at 0.6 eV, due to interstitia1 zinc (Zn_I). But, irradiation at a fluence of 1×10¹² ions/cm², resulted in three different defect levels as per TSC studies. Interestingly, the sample irradiated at a fluence of 3×10¹³ ions/cm² had only one defect level corresponding to a deep donor. The possible origin of these defect levels is also discussed in the paper.     

Influence of high-energy electron irradiation on field emission properties of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) films

The effect of very high energy electron beam irradiation on the field emission characteristics of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) has been investigated. The MWCNTs films deposited on silicon (Si) substrates were irradiated with 6 MeV electron beam at different fluence of 1×10¹⁵, 2×10¹⁵ and 3×10¹⁵ electrons/cm². The irradiated films were characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and micro-Raman spectrometer. The SEM analysis clearly revealed a change in surface morphology of the films upon irradiation. The Raman spectra of the irradiated films show structural damage caused by the interaction of high-energy electrons. The field emission studies were carried out in a planar diode configuration at the base pressure of ∼1×10⁻⁸ mbar. The values of the threshold field, required to draw an emission current density of ∼1 μA/cm², are found to be ∼0.52, 1.9, 1.3 and 0.8 V/μm for untreated, irradiated with fluence of 1×10¹⁵, 2×10¹⁵ and 3×10¹⁵ electrons/cm². The irradiated films exhibit better emission current stability as compared to the untreated film. The improved field emission properties of the irradiated films have been attributed to the structural damage as revealed from the Raman studies.     

Effect of swift heavy ion irradiation on dilute Fe-doped Sb0.95Se0.05 magnetic semiconductor

A thin film of dilute Fe (0.008)-doped Sb_0.95Se_0.05 alloy was grown on silicon substrate using the thermal evaporation technique. This film was irradiated with swift heavy ions (SHIs) Ag⁺¹⁵ having 200?MeV energy at ion fluences of 1?×?10¹² and 5?×?10¹² ions per cm², respectively. The thickness of the thin film was ～500?nm. We study the effect of irradiation on structural, electrical, surface morphology and magnetic properties of this film using grazing angle XRD (GAXRD), DC resistivity, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and magnetic force microscopy (MFM), respectively. GAXRD suggests that no significant change is observed in this system due to SHI irradiation. The average crystallite size increases with fluence, whereas the AFM image shows the rms roughness decreases due to irradiation with respect to the un-irradiated thin film. The MFM image shows that the magnetic interaction in irradiated film decreases due to the irradiation effect. Although the un-irradiated sample shows metal to semiconducting transition, but after irradiation with fluence of 5?×?10¹² ions per cm², the sharpness of the metal to semiconducting phase transition is observed to increase dramatically at ～300?K. This characteristic of the thin film makes it a promising candidate for an electrical switching device after irradiation.     

High-energy ion induced physical and surface modifications in antimony sulphide thin films

Sb₂S₃ thin films prepared by electrodeposition on indium tin oxide coated glass substrate were irradiated with 150 MeV Ni¹¹⁺ ions for various fluence in the range of 10¹¹–10¹³ ions/cm². The modifications in the structure, surface morphology and optical properties have been studied as a function of ion fluence. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis indicates a shift in the (2 4 0) peak position towards lower diffraction angle and a decrease in grain size with increase in ion fluence. Presence of microcracks due to irradiation induced grain splitting effect has been observed from the SEM micrograph at higher ion fluence. The optical absorbance spectrum revealed a shift in the fundamental absorption edge and the band gap energy increased from a value of 1.63 eV for as-deposited films to 1.80 eV for the films irradiated with 10¹³ ions/cm².     

Structural,optical and electrical properties of 60 MeV C5+ ion-irradiated poly(3-methylthiophene) films

The structural, optical and electrical properties of 60 MeV C⁵⁺ ion-irradiated poly(3-methylthiophene) (P3MT) synthesized by the chemical oxidation polymerization method have been studied. The P3MT powder was dissolved in chloroform (CHCl₃), and thin films of thickness 2 μm were prepared on glass and Si substrates. The polymerization was confirmed by the FTIR spectrum. Then films were irradiated by 60 MeV C⁵⁺ ions at different fluences. FTIR spectra show methyl group evolution after irradiation. The optical band gap decreases slightly after irradiation and the DC conductivity increases by about one order of magnitude after irradiation at the highest fluence. The role of S _e has also been discussed when compared with 60 MeV Si⁵⁺ ion irradiation of P3MT. The morphological changes are observed using SEM.     

Defects mediated diffusion in Pt/Co/Pt multilayers induced by dense electronic excitations

Present study compares the effects of 200 MeV Ag¹⁵⁺ and 100 MeV O⁷⁺ ion irradiations on the structural, interfacial mixing and magnetic properties of annealed Pt/Co/Pt layers fabricated by DC magnetron sputtering. X-ray diffraction analysis shows that ion irradiations coupled with post annealing results in the formation of the face centred tetragonal L1₀ CoPt phase. Irradiation using 200 MeV Ag¹⁵⁺ ions having higher ionizing energy transfer to the film was found to be more efficient in causing structural phase transition as compared with that using 100 MeV energy O⁷⁺ ions having lower ionizing energy transfer at similar fluence. Rutherford back scattering analysis reveals the role of defect mediated inter-atomic diffusion in tailoring the alloy composition of the film irradiated by different energetic ions. A broad magnetic switching field distribution for O⁷⁺ ion irradiated films compared to Ag¹⁵⁺ ion irradiation was evident from the magnetic measurements. The contribution of alloy composition to switching field distribution has been discussed in details. Above results showed that the electronic energy loss and fluence dependent defects, generated by irradiation, played an important role in tuning the structural, atomic diffusion and magnetic reversal properties of Pt/Co/Pt.