Optical characterization of poly(methyl methacrylate) implanted with low energy ions

• Published in: Applied surface science 2012-12, Vol.263, p.334-338
• Main Authors: Gupta, Renu, Kumar, Vijay, Goyal, Parveen Kumar, Kumar, Shyam
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Exact sciences and technology; Ion implantation; Optical energy gap; Physics; PMMA; Refractive index
• ISSN: 0169-4332; 1873-5584
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2012.09.056

► The study provides the optical behavior of ion-implanted poly(methyl methacrylate). ► Optical energy gap reduces from 3.13 to 0.8 and 2.8eV for N and Ar implanted PMMA. ► Refractive index increases from 1.54 to 2.71 and 2.02 for N and Ar implanted PMMA. ► The changes after N and Ar implantation are justified by Raman spectroscopy. ► The implanted PMMA may find extensive applications in opto-electronic devices. The samples of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) were subjected to 100keV N+ and Ar+ ion implantation up to a maximum fluence of 2×1016ions/cm2. The effect of ion implantation on the optical energy gap and the refractive index has been studied through UV–visible spectroscopy. The results clearly indicate a decrease in the values of optical energy gap and an increase in the values of refractive index as an effect of ion implantation corresponding to both of the ions. It has also been observed that the changes induced by the implanted ions are more pronounced for N+ ions in comparison to Ar+ ions. This variation has been correlated with the calculated ranges of these ions in PMMA polymer using Stopping and Range of Ions in Matter (SRIM) code. Finally, an attempt has been made to correlate all the observed changes with the induced structural changes as revealed through Raman spectroscopy.