Radiation chemistry of molecular compounds and polymers by soft X-ray spectroscopy and microscopy

Soft X-ray-induced radiation chemistry in selected Fe molecular compounds and some aliphatic polymers was studied using soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and scanning transmission X-ray microscopy. X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy was used to elucidate the radiation chemistry. The results show that damage to the Fe molecular complexes involves Fe-ligand bond breaking, ligand damage, and subsequent photoreduction of Fe(III) if it is not tightly bonded to oxygen. Upon radiation damage, polymer PAN primarily undergoes chemical structure changes without mass loss, PECA experiences chemical structure changes as well as small mass loss, while PPC and PEC suffer large mass loss with chemical structure changes. These studies are not only important to X-ray analysis of radiation sensitive materials but also are valuable to the applications of X-ray lithography and other types of nanofabrication involving photoresist. (author)