Electrical and optical properties of Makrofol DE 1-1 polymeric films induced by gamma irradiation

Background A set of Makrofol DE 1-1 polymeric samples was irradiated to different gamma doses. The dielectric response of irradiated polymers was investigated at a wide range of frequencies at room temperature. The modification induced in optical properties include the optical band gap ( E optical ), number of carbon per cluster ( M ), number of carbon per length ( N ), and refractive index ( n ) for irradiated samples were studied as well. Methods The dielectric constant (έ), dielectric loss factor (ε˝), loss tangent (tanδ), the ac electrical conductivity (σ ac ), and impedance ( Z ) were measured in the frequency range from (100) Hz to (100) MHz. The optical band gap energy and its corresponding parameters for the samples were evaluated using ineffective thickness method (ITM). Results Gamma-ray irradiation had a considerable effect on the optical band gap energy for Makrofol DE 1-1 polymer detector film, which decreases from 4.20 to 3.96 eV and 4.35 to 4.16 eV for indirect and direct allowed transitions in ITM method, respectively, while it decreases from 4.40 to 4.20 eV in DITM method as a result of γ-ray dose increases. ( n ) of all studied samples is considerably high. ( N ) and ( M ) for the direct transition are lower than that for the indirect transition and their values increase with increasing gamma dose. Conclusion The results reveal that Makrofol DE1-1 polymer can be used as gamma dosimeter. Furthermore, Makrofol DE1-1 has much greater resistance to radiation damage; the attained results suggested strongly the applicability of Makrofol DE1-1 polymer to be used in medical products applications and suitable for optoelectronic and photoelectric devices.