Radiation-induced conductivity of molecularly doped polycarbonate

We have investigated the radiation-induced conductivity (RIC) in polycarbonate (PC) molecularly doped with an aromatic hydrazone DEH (DEH:PC) under continuous irradiation with 50 keV electrons. The RIC temporal dependence has been found to differ markedly from that reported for most common polymers. Initially, it rises quickly to some value and instead of dropping subsequently by several orders of magnitude it continues to increase further. Such behavior mitigates electron charging effects. This observation combined with the high DEH:PC radiation resistance and its acceptable temperature range makes it very promising as a spacecraft thermal blanket material.