Fluctuation-Induced Anisotropic Pattern Relaxation in Critical Polymer Blends

Abstract
A new relaxation process has been identified in binary polymer blends near the critical point, by dynamic depolarized light scattering. It is attributed to the formation of 3D anisotropic patterns of critical order parameter fluctuations, accounted for by fluctuation-induced second order scattering. This new process, which is absent in small molecule binary mixtures, is shown to be a universal characteristic of polymer blends.