Abstract Ordered materials, which hold organized structures of heterogeneous matter and thus always present superior performance than their non-ordered counterparts, have been constantly pursued. Nevertheless, the direct, precise and nondestructive observation of the ordering process, which is especially critical for evaluating the quality of consecutive manufacturing, remains a formidable challenge. Herein, we introduce Mueller matrix ellipsometry (MME) as a nondestructive method to quantitatively investigate the nanocomposite ordering process upon holography. This nondestructive investigation directly offers the exact width of, refractive index and nanoparticle fraction in each bright (constructive) and dark (destructive) interference area, which is impossible to be implemented using other existing techniques. Interestingly, the width of dark regions in the formed holographic gratings is observed to decrease while the width of bright regions increases with an augmentation of holographic recording time, distinct from previous width-equal assumption. Meanwhile, an apparent diffusion coefficient of 2 × 10−15 m2 s−1 for nanoparticles is determined on the basis of time dependent grating parameter variation, which is 3 orders of magnitude lower than the initial value theoretically predicted by the Stokes-Einstein diffusion equation. The distinct diffusion coefficient is attributed to the rapid increase of viscosity driven by polymerization during holography. No depolarization is observed in these holographic polymer nanocomposites, indicating uniform dispersion of nanoparticles in the polymer matrices. The proposed protocol herein is envisioned to pave the way for precisely and nondestructively understanding the formation of ordered structure in electronics, photonics, photovoltaics, biomaterials and other disciplines.

中文翻译：

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使用穆勒矩阵椭偏仪对全息纳米复合材料有序性进行无损研究

摘要 有序材料具有异质物质的有组织结构，因此总是表现出比无序材料优越的性能，因此一直在不断追求。然而，对订购过程进行直接、精确和无损的观察，这对于评估连续制造的质量尤其重要，仍然是一项艰巨的挑战。在此，我们引入了穆勒矩阵椭偏仪 (MME) 作为一种无损方法，以在全息术中定量研究纳米复合材料的排序过程。这种非破坏性研究直接提供了每个明亮（建设性）和黑暗（破坏性）干涉区域的准确宽度、折射率和纳米颗粒分数，这是使用其他现有技术无法实现的。有趣的是，观察到形成的全息光栅中暗区的宽度减小，而亮区的宽度随着全息记录时间的增加而增加，这与之前的宽度相等假设不同。同时，纳米颗粒的表观扩散系数为 2 × 10−15 m2 s−1 是基于时间相关的光栅参数变化确定的，这比 Stokes-Einstein 扩散方程理论预测的初始值低 3 个数量级. 明显的扩散系数归因于全息过程中由聚合驱动的粘度快速增加。在这些全息聚合物纳米复合材料中没有观察到去极化，表明纳米颗粒在聚合物基质中均匀分散。