| Abstract: | Both small- and wide-angle light scattering as well as transmission measurements have been used to investigate the optical scattering losses of a vinylidene difluoride-tetrafluoroethylene-hexafluoropropylene copolymer crystallized from the melt. The main origin of the scattering loss is the wide-angle light scattering from the spherulitic superstructure. Uniaxial deformation transforms this structure into a fiber morphology. The attenuation of fibers has been measured for light propagating both parallel and perpendicular to the orientation axis. For both directions, the attenuation decreases with increasing draw ratio. Annealing of the fibers while keeping their ends fixed is an effective method to reduce the attenuation further, to a low value as close to that of the melt. |
