Brillouin scattering in amorphous polymeric solids

Brillouin scattering of laser light has been used to study the temperature dependence of phonon velocity in a variety of amorphous polymeric systems, particularly internally and externally plasticized methacrylates. Discontinuities in the temperature coefficient of the hypersound velocities are observed at the glass transition temperatures (Tg). This phenomenon is related to changes in the temperature behavior of the specific volume accompanied by corresponding discontinuities in certain second‐order thermodynamic quantities. This method was also used to examine the temperature dependence of the Landau‐Placzek ratio. This ratio is relatively large in polymer systems and appears to be independent of temperature in the region of the glass transition, provided that there are no internal strains in the sample at the temperature of measurement. Evidence is presented which suggests that the abrupt changes in this ratio at Tg reported by earlier workers were due to kinetic effects related to the relaxation of internal strains above Tg, and the results of recent studies by other investigators, both corroborating and supplementing the present work, are reviewed.