Analysis of Kapton's electrical properties when subjected to ionizing radiation

This investigation examined the effects of radiation damage on the electronic properties of Kapton, a widely used polyamide film. In this study, a proton beam irradiated a ribbon cable made of Kapton film. The beam was incident on the gap between a pair of copper wires in the ribbon cable, and the resistance between the two wires was measured after various increasing energies of protons were run on the film. The radiation damage was not significant enough to produce a measurable change in resistance showing Kapton's ability to withstand radiation. To measure changes in the elemental composition of Kapton, elastic scattering spectroscopy and forward scattering spectroscopy was performed with 4 MeV alpha particles. The elastic scattering spectra were compared to verify that the ribbon cable was Kapton. The only difference in the spectra being due to the copper wires in the ribbon cable. The elastic recoil spectra did show some loss of hydrogen with increasing fluence. Further study will be done to quantify the amount of radiation needed to produce a change in the electrical properties of Kapton.