Effect of 60 keV argon ion implantation in Makrofol® DE 1-1 on the optical properties

Ion implantation in polymeric materials has recently attracted considerable attention in various technology and science fields. The effect of 60 keV low-energy and high-fluence argon ion implantation in the Makrofol® DE 1-1 polymer on the nonlinear and linear optical properties was investigated. Structural changes of the polymer were studied with Raman spectroscopy to ensure the structural modifications induced by argon ions. Linear optical parameters such as the absorption and refractive index were investigated for the ion-implanted sheets. Direct and indirect optical band gaps were observed to decrease with an increase in argon ion fluence. In addition, an increase in the optical conductivity was found with increasing number of ions implanted in the sheets. The photoluminescence (PL) measurements reveal enhanced PL intensity of higher-fluence ion implanted in contrast to the PL of lower ion implantation fluence. Additionally, nonlinear absorption and optical limiting were investigated via the Z scan technique. The implanted materials have saturable nonlinear absorption, the nonlinear absorption coefficients and the figure of merit were calculated for the investigated samples, and the results show that the implanted argon ion Makrofol is a good candidate for saturable absorbers, optoelectronic devices and medical products.