Aqueous marker penetration into ion irradiated polyimide

The penetration of aqueous ⁶Li⁺ markers into low energy ion irradiated polyimide (PI) foils was examined by the neutron depth profiling technique in combination with a modified tomographic approach. The ion irradiation always leads to an enhancement in marker uptake. After irradiation at low fluence the marker profiles follow the nuclear damage distribution even in three dimensions. At elevated fluences saturation in the marker uptake is clearly seen. The polymer’s penetrant uptake can be described well by regular diffusion, with nuclear damage centres acting as saturable traps. These observations are strikingly different from the marker penetration into high-energy heavy-ion irradiated PI.