Positron annihilation behavior in poly(ethylene)

The intensities and lifetimes of positrons annihilatings in low and high density poly(ethylene) (LDPE and HDPE) were measured. As expected the orthopositronium (oPs) pick-off lifetime and intensity increases with temperature; the relative values of the intensity are consistent with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results. Two other components with shorter lifetimes were deconvoluted from the complex exponential decay profiles. Detailed studies were carried out on quenched and annealed samples of LDPE and HDPE in an attempt to correlate the two shorter components with crystallization; both CsF and plastic scintillators were used. DSC analyses were also carried out. We conclude that the shortest lifetime component is caused by a combination of parapositronium (pPs) decay and the annihilation of free positrons in the crystalline regions and that the second longest lived component can also be associated with crystalline regions especially the crystalline/amorphous boundary. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.