title: Imaging studies of temperature dependent photodegradation and self-healing in disperse orange 11 dye-doped polymers.
abstract: Using confocal transmission imaging microscopy, we measure the temperature dependence of photodegradation and self-healing in disperse orange 11 (DO11) dye-doped (poly)methyl-methacrylate (PMMA) and polystyrene (PS). In both dye-doped polymers, an increase in sample temperature results in a greater photodegradation rate and degree of degradation, while also resulting in a slower recovery rate and larger recovery fraction. These results confirm the temperature dependence predictions of the modified correlated chromophore domain model (mCCDM) [B. R. Anderson and M. G. Kuzyk, Phys. Rev. E 89, 032601 (2014)]. Additionally, using quantitative fitting of the imaging data for DO11/PMMA, we determine the domain density parameter to be ρ = 1.19 (±0.25) × 10(-2) and the domain free energy advantage to be λ = 0.282 ± 0.015 eV, which are within the uncertainty of the values previously determined using amplified spontaneous emission as the probe method [S. K. Ramini et al., Polym. Chem. 4, 4948 (2013)]. Finally, while we find photodegradation and self-healing of DO11/PS to be qualitatively consistent with the mCCDM, we find that it is quantitatively incompatible with the mCCDM as recovery in DO11/PS is found to behave as a stretched (or double) exponential as a function of time.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164-2814, USA.
authors.forename: Benjamin R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164-2814, USA.
authors.forename: Sheng-Ting
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164-2814, USA.
authors.forename: Mark G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Kuzyk