Irradiation effects in polymers by heavy ions: The distribution of the chemical structure transformation in polymers

The distribution of the local transformations induced in a low density polyethylene irradiated with various ion-beams was observed by using micro-FT-IR system. The predominant transformations induced by irradiation are crosslinking, trans-vinylene, end-vinyl and vinylidine. The depth profile of the trans-vinylene resembles the Bragg curve, but that each of the end-vinyl and the vinylidine shows rather complicated profile. The irradiation effect of H + ions is similar to that of γ-rays, but on irradiation with the ions heavier than H +, the species induced are found to depend on the beam fluence and the stopping power of the ion.