Irradiation Effects of Excimer Laser Light on Poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) Film

Poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) film was irradiated with intense monochromatic UV light from ArF, KrF, and XeCl excimer lasers. The detachment of chlorine atoms was observed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and the formation of polyene structures was observed by optical absorption spectroscopy. The irradiation of ArF and KrF excimer laser light mainly caused the formation of diene and triene structures, respectively. The irradiation of XeCl laser light caused no significant reactions. Upon the consideration of the triplet energies of olefin and diene and the dissociation energy of allylic C–Cl bond, the wavelength dependence was explained by photochemical and photothermal effects of the ArF and KrF lasers, respectively.