[en] In the interaction process of a swift heavy ion (SHI) and polymer, a latent track with radius of several nanometers appears near the ion trajectory due to the dense ionization and excitation. To describe the role of electronic energy loss (dE/dX)_e, multi-layer stacks (with different dE/dX) of polyimide (PI) films were irradiated by different SHIs (1.158 GeV Fe⁵⁶ and 1.755 GeV Xe¹³⁶) under vacuum at room temperature. Chemical changes of modified PI films were studied by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The main feature of SHI irradiation is the degradation of the functional group and creation of alkyne. The chain disruption rate of PI was investigated in the fluence range from 1 x 10¹¹ to 6 x 10¹² ions/cm² and a wider energy stopping power range (2.2 to 5.2 keV/nm for Fe⁵⁶ ions and 8.6 to 11.3 keV/nm for Xe¹³⁶ ions). Alkyne formation was observed over the electronic energy loss range of interest. Assuming the saturated track model (the damage process only occur in a cylinder of area σ), the mean degradation and alkyne formation radii in tracks were deduced for Fe and Xe ion irradiation, respectively. The results were validated by the thermal spike model and the threshold electronic energy loss of track formation S_et in PI was deduced. The analysis of the irradiated PI films shows that the predictions of the thermal spike model are in qualitative agreement with the curve shape of experimental results. (authors)