Analysis of the reversible character of radiation-induced conductivity in polymers

The results of numerical simulation of the rise and decay of transient current in a virgin specimen of a model polymer upon continuous irradiation and in the irradiated specimen after its holding for a certain time are presented. The dependence of the annealing effect on the rest time was examined in detail. It was shown that long times are required for significant annealing, which strongly increase with a decrease in the disorder parameter alpha (for example, from 4 x 10(3) s at alpha = 0.5 to 10(7) s at alpha = 0.3). An analysis of irradiation in the intermittent mode showed that this technique does not provide any new information as compared with the classical continuous irradiation (contrary to the opinion existing in the literature) but predictably complicates the interpretation of experimental data; however, it may be successfully used to measure the time-average current.