X-Ray-Induced Thermally-Stimulated Currents in Polyvinylidene Fluoride

Abstract

Thermally-stimulated currents (TSC) induced by a prior X-irradiation in polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) were observed and the nature of carrier traps was discussed. PVDF shows three split TSC peaks, the P 1 , P 2 and P 3 peaks in ascending order of temperature. Both P 1 and P 2 peaks are due to dipole orientation in amorphous regions associated with the γ- and β-relaxations, respectively. The P 3 peak is due to carrier traps in the regions related to the α-type PVDF crystallites. The field dependence of the TSC revealed that at least two kinds of carrier traps are responsible for the P 3 peak. The dependence of the irradiation temperature on TSC, together with the field dependence, suggests that the carrier release from one kind of carrier trap is strongly affected by the electric field.