ION-IMPLANTATION OF POLYMERS FOR ELECTRICAL-CONDUCTIVITY ENHANCEMENT

The polymers PET, PAN, PES and PEEK were implanted with ions of He, B, C, N, Ar and As at an energy of 50 keV. PEEK was implanted with I at 22.5 MeV, Xe at 24 MeV, and Ni at 47 MeV. Surface resistivity for electrical conduction indicated a plateau effect in the dose range 10(16)-10(17) ions/cm2. The more aliphatic polymer, PET, indicated the lowest resistance of the low energy implants. The high energy ions produced much lower resistivities at much lower doses. The temperature dependence of the resistivities indicate a quasi-one-dimensional variable range hopping mechanism for electrical conduction.