Light scattering from polymer spherulites in crystal growth simulation

A three-dimensional simulation is carried out in the growth process of a polymer spherulite and the Hv light scattering intensity is calculated. In the simulation, a crystallite is represented by a thin disk with the optical axis perpendicular to the disk. In a growth step, each crystallite generates new crystallites, the optical axes of which are fluctuated. The simulation results reproduce prominent features observed in the light scattering experiments on polymer spherulites: the scattering intensity that consists of a fourfold-symmetry intensity component and an isotropic intensity component, the scattering angle dependence, the relative magnitude and the development with crystallization time of these intensity components. A new interpretation is proposed for the Hv light scattering intensity from the polymer spherulites in the growth process.