Open AccessTerahertz time-domain spectroscopy as a tool to monitor the glass transition in polymers
Author(s) -
Steffen Wietzke,
Christian Jansen,
T. Jung,
Marco Reuter,
Benjamin Baudrit,
Martin Bastian,
Sangam Chatterjee,
Martín Koch
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.17.019006
Subject(s) - terahertz time domain spectroscopy , terahertz radiation , glass transition , differential scanning calorimetry , terahertz spectroscopy and technology , materials science , spectroscopy , amorphous solid , refractive index , optics , phase transition , polymer , optoelectronics , condensed matter physics , chemistry , crystallography , physics , thermodynamics , composite material , quantum mechanics
We demonstrate the suitability of terahertz time-domain spectroscopy as a non-destructive, contact-free tool to monitor the glass transition in polymers--a core feature of the amorphous phase. Below the glass transition temperature T(g), segmental motions along the polymer chain are frozen due to the lack of free volume between neighboring macromolecules. We show that this transition also reflects in the temperature dependence of the refractive index at terahertz frequencies. Two domains can be identified, which differ in their sensitivity to temperature changes. To verify the proposed approach, we determine the glass transition temperature T(g) of semi-crystalline poly(oxymethylene) (POM) with terahertz time-domain spectroscopy and validate the results by destructive differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements.