Radiation-induced conductivity in polystyrene, a common insulating polymer with a hopping conduction.

Radiation-induced conductivity (RIC) of polystyrene has been studied experimentally and numerically mostly in a small-signal regime in a broad time range from some nanoseconds to seconds. It has been established that hole transport is dispersive with a low value of the dispersion parameter α = 0.35. We have suggested a direct method of determination of the frequency factor of the Rose–Fowler–Vaisberg model, which has been parameterized using computer simulations by the trial and error method. The main outstanding concern is the application of the Onsager theory of geminate recombination concerning the field dependence of the free carrier yield and the possible frequency factor increase at high electric fields. The effect of hopping transport on the RIC in this common insulating polymer is still to be understood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]