NOTICE: Due to a lapse in annual appropriations, most of this website is not being updated. Learn more.
Form submissions will still be accepted but will not receive responses at this time. Sections of this site for programs using non-appropriated funds (such as NVLAP) or those that are excepted from the shutdown (such as CHIPS and NVD) will continue to be updated.
An official website of the United States government
Here’s how you know
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
Unveiling the Origin of a Nonequilibrium Dynamic Process Detected by X-Ray Photon Correlation Spectroscopy via a Finite Element Analysis Approach
Published
Author(s)
Li Ma, Fan Zhang, Andrew J. Allen, Lyle E. Levine
Abstract
It is a scientific and engineering challenge to characterize materials under nonequilibrium conditions. In recent years, X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS), a synchrotron based coherent X-ray scattering technique, has been found useful in -determining the time scales associated with various nonequilibrium processes, with detailed descriptions of the underlying processes lacking. Here, Both static ultra-small angle X-ray scattering (USAXS) and dynamic USAXS based XPCS were used to investigate a transient structural change (a nonequlibrium process) associated with an isothermal anneal in a glass polymer composite system. While the bulk USAXS technique lacked the required sensitivity to detect the change in the microstructures, the local structural reorganization was apparent in the XPCS study. The structural changes were modeled using a three dimensional finite element analysis approach and used wave-propagation theory to simulate the resulting reciprocal-space coherent scattering intensity. There was qualitative agreement between the modeling and experimental results, which demonstrates that stress relaxation in the viscous polymer matrix was responsible for the observed changes. This analysis demonstrates that multi-physics modeling of complex systems can be used to interpret XPCS measurements of nonequilibrium processes.
Ma, L.
, Zhang, F.
, Allen, A.
and Levine, L.
(2014),
Unveiling the Origin of a Nonequilibrium Dynamic Process Detected by X-Ray Photon Correlation Spectroscopy via a Finite Element Analysis Approach, ACTA Crystallographica Section A, [online], https://doi.org/10.1107/S205327331400686X
(Accessed October 20, 2025)