Structural and optical properties of HDPE implanted with medium fluences silver ions

The implantation of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) has been conducted using Ag+ ions with energy of 60 keV, achieved fluences 1.5 and 10∙1015 ions/cm2. Transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and field emission gun – scanning electron microscopy (FEG-SEM) showed the existence of nanoparticle clusters. X ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealed the presence of silver in the sample surface region. The surface topography was studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM), while the surface composition uniformity was analyzed using phase imaging AFM. Optical characterization obtained by spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) showed changes in refractive index, extinction coefficient and the optical band gap with the fluence of implanted ions.