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Excimer laser darkening of ETFE polymer films
Author(s) -
Berman Michael R.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.1992.070450113
Subject(s) - etfe , fluence , excimer laser , materials science , laser , irradiation , polymer , photoionization , photochemistry , optics , analytical chemistry (journal) , chemistry , composite material , layer (electronics) , ion , organic chemistry , physics , nuclear physics , ionization
Darkening of ethylene–tetrafluorethylene (ETFE) films caused by exposure to xenon chloride excimer laser radiation at 308 nm was studied. Darkening was determined to result from a rapid, local heating of the film. The laser‐induced heating caused elimination of hydrogen fluoride from the film, leaving a noncrystalline graphitic backbone. A threshold laser fluence for darkening of (205 ± 25) mJ/cm 2 was observed. At laser fluences above this threshold the rate of darkening of the ETFE films increased linearly with laser fluence. The rate of darkening was found to decrease as the extent of crosslinking in the polymer sample increased. Observations suggest that low concentrations of monomers in the film might affect the darkening rate.