Novel Melt-Spun Polymer-Optical Poly(methyl methacrylate) Fibers Studied by Small-Angle X-ray Scattering

Markus Beckers*, Thomas Vad, Benjamin Mohr, Benjamin Weise, Wilhelm Steinmann, Thomas Gries, Gunnar Seide, Emmanuel Kentzinger, Christian-Alexander Bunge

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

The structural properties of novel melt-spun polymer optical fibers (POFs) are investigated by small-angle X-ray scattering. The amorphous PMMA POFs were subjected to a rapid cooling in a water quench right after extrusion in order to obtain a radial refractive index profile. Four fiber samples were investigated with small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The resulting distance-distribution functions obtained from the respective equatorial and meridional SAXS data exhibit a real-space correlation peak indicative of periodic cross-sectional and axial variations in the scattering density contrast. Simple model calculations demonstrate how the structural information contained particularly in the equatorial distance distribution function can be interpreted. The respective results are qualitatively verified for one of the fiber samples by comparison of the model curve with the measured SAXS data. Eventually, the study confirms that the cross-sectional variation of the (scattering-) density is the main reason for the formation of radial refractive-index profiles in the POFs.

Original languageEnglish
Article number60
Number of pages14
JournalPolymers
Volume9
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2017

Keywords

  • material characterization
  • polymer optical fiber
  • graded-index profile
  • fiber fabrication
  • nanostructure
  • measurement technique
  • scattering
  • melt-spinning
  • INDEX

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