Resulting intermediate/late-time structure: Elliptical LC-rich domains (minor phase) in a polymer-rich matrix (major phase).
Evolution of degree of PS and PO.
for PS (red): delta_phi(t) = phimax(t) - phimin(t)
for PO (blue): S(t) = Smax(t)
Plot indicates that PS is significant at t=8 and PO is significant at t=20. phi and S profiles reveal that these times (at which this plot indicates a high degree of PS and PO) represent when PS and PO begin to be significant. (That is, there is at least one or two small regions that have strongly phase separated or ordered.)
For this quench, PS is well-established at t~10. PO, however, is not really significant at t=20. There is only one highly ordered LC-rich droplet. By t=30, there are several ordered LC-rich domains, and byt t~50, almost all LC-rich droplets are highly ordered (i.e., strong alignment within droplet, not among droplets).
until t~30-40, when the LCs in several LC-rich domains are highly ordered. At t=20, only one LC-rich droplet is strongly ordered.
#1: "new" k1, phi-based S(k).
Initially, R ~ t1/3 - t1/4 .
At t~60, domain growth slows down.
The t1/3 behavior indicates that this system may be like Model B, initially. With more runs, each initialized with a different configuration, we may determine more confidently if this initial growth is Model B-like or not.
At t=60, domain growth is slower than t1/4. Only large, ordered LC-rich domains, however, exist. The system needs small domains present for coarsening to proceed properly. Thus, to examine this quench for times greater than t=60, we need to study a larger system.
#2: "old" k1 -- from phi-based S(k).
Initially, R ~ t1/2.
t~60, domain growth slows down. (See comments in plot #1.)
Since we only consider "new" k1-based results, we make no further comments on this t1/2 behavior.
#3: "old" k1 vs. "new" k1 -- from phi-based S(k).
We can compare these results to those of a different lattice size:
To view directly the results of those of a different lattice size:
Jump to the individual results of the quench with (phi0, T, N) of:
Other links:
www.chem.ucla.edu/~aml/research.html
Last updated August 1, 1999.