A detailed test of mode-coupling theory on all time scales: Time domain studies of structural relaxation in a supercooled liquid

Abstract

The dynamics of supercooled salol (phenyl salicylate) was measured in the time domain using optical Kerr effect techniques. By combining several experimental setups, data spanning more than six decades in amplitude and time (∼100 fs to ∼1 μs) were observed. The data have a complex shape, ranging from high-frequency intramolecular oscillations at short times, to nearly exponential relaxation at long times. As predicted by mode-coupling theory (MCT), the data for some ranges of time appear as power laws. The slowest power law, the von Schweidler power law, has an almost constant exponent of ∼0.59 over the entire temperature range studied (247–340 K). Above the MCT Tc (T>∼1.17 Tg, where Tg is the laboratory glass transition temperature) for t>∼1 ps, the decays are shown to be in excellent agreement with the master curve predicted by ideal MCT when higher order terms are included. However, the data do not display the plateau predicted by ideal MCT. To discuss the data at all temperatures, the intermediate time scale portion of the data, 2