Polymorphic transformations in ferroelectric copolymers of vinylidene fluoride induced by electron irradiation.

Electron irradiation of vinylidene fluoride copolymers with tri- or tetrafluoroethylene was found to induce a room-temperature polymorphic transformation of the ferroelectric phase to one that is structurally analogous to the paraelectric phase normally accessible only above the Curie temperature. This solid-state transformation is irreversible and precedes by far the eventual amorphization that takes place at higher electron doses.