Decoration of radiation damages in polyimide implanted with rare gas ions

Polyimide–Kapton (P1) foils, 50 μg thick were irradiated with 100 keV He+, Ne+, Ar+, Kr+ and Xe+ ions to the fluences from 1×1012 to 1×1016 cm−2 and subsequently doped from 5 M/1 water solution of LiCl for 1 and 25 h at room temperature. The amount of incorporated LiCl dopant and its depth profiles were measured with non-destructive Neutron Depth Profiling (NDP) technique sensitive to 6Li isotope. The dopant uptake is a complicated function of the ion mass, ion fluence and the doping time. The depth profiles of the dopant in the PI samples irradiated to the fluences below 1×1013 cm−2 are similar to that from unirradiated PI. At higher fluences an anomalous profile component appears, the width of which correlates well with the ion projected range.