Radiation-induced polarization in polyvinyl chloride revisited

Measurements of the polarization distribution produced in PVC (polyvinyl chloride) by electron-beam irradiation shows that the bimorphic, radiation-induced polarization is very long lived. Measurements on the poling temperature dependence have established the difficulty of poling PVC significantly below its T_g using an applied field alone. The measurements leave open the possibility that the radiation-induced polarization in PVC is not just a result of the radiation-induced field, but may involve some other radiation effect that facilitates dipole orientation in the glassy state. While it does not seem likely that the response signals could be due to space charge, this possibility cannot be laid to rest until it is shown that the irradiation did not induce inhomogeneous material properties