Modification of PET polymer foils by K+ ion irradiation

Thin (3 mu m) PET foils were implanted with K+ ions (150 keV, fluences from 10(14) cm(-2) to 10(16) cm(-2)). Destruction of various chemical bonds and formation of graphite-like structures as well as the increase of absorbance in UV-VIS spectra and narrowing of the energy bandgap from similar to 4 eV to 0.55 eV (10(16) cm(-2)) were observed. Ion implantation leads to the reduction of sheet resistance by 6 ordes of magnitude as well as to the increase of dielectric constant of the sample by several percent (10(14) cm(-2)) up to 65 % for the maximal fluence. (Modification of PET polymer foils by K+ ion irradiation).