Influence of dielectric fluctuation on light-scattering properties of random copolymers in bulk

Abstract

Polarized light scattering in bulk polymers is positively correlated with the intensity of dielectric fluctuation and the size of the heterogeneous structure, which is expressed by a correlation length. In this study, the influence of dielectric fluctuation was independently investigated for the first time on the basis of the difference in the light-scattering properties between two random copolymers – methyl methacrylate (MMA)/pentafluorophenyl methacrylate (PFPMA) and MMA/phenyl methacrylate (PMA). These copolymers have similar correlation lengths but show different intensities of dielectric fluctuation. When the difference of the mean-square average of the fluctuations of all dielectric constants between the copolymers was 105 × 10−10, the difference in isotropic light-scattering loss was 425 dB/km at 633 nm.