Quantum chemical calculations reveal that ozone is capable of instigating a series of degradative processes in poly(methyl methacrylate). The crux lies in the self-decomposition of 1,2,4-trioxolane, which undergoes a spin intersystem crossing process and O-O bond cleavage to unravel a triplet biradical intermediate that facilitates auto-degradation of the polymer chain.

A coplanar refractive-diffractive doublet array employing surface-relief diffractive phase elements embedded within poly(methyl methacrylate) microlenses is introduced as an optomechanical building block for optoelectronic integrated systems. The design method, fabrication technology, and results are described. Coplanarity of the quadratic- and linear-phase elements constituting the doublet can...

Finite-element simulation of the hot pressing process has been performed using ABAQUS. The viscoelastic polymer (polymethyl methacrylate) used in this study has mechanical properties that depend on the temperature and working pressure. Based on the nonlinear viscoelastic model, the polymer material behaviour is simulated successfully with the data obtained from material tests. Simulation result...

Coupling between tunable broadband modes of an array of plasmonic metamolecules and a vibrational mode of carbonyl bond of poly(methyl methacrylate) is shown experimentally to produce a Fano resonance, which can be tuned in situ by varying the polarization of incident light. The interaction between the plasmon modes and the molecular resonance is investigated using both rigorous electromagnetic...

Article history: Received 15 June 2012 Received in revised form 6 September 2012 Available online 7 November 2012

A modified coupled-mode (CM) model is proposed for the optical behavior of thermally chirped Bragg gratings. The model accounts for the axial gradient in the modulation wavenumber, which has been ignored in the classical CM model. The model is used to characterize the optical behavior of a polymethyl methacrylate-based polymer Bragg grating subjected to nonisothermal conditions. The validity of...