Coarsening Dynamics in Cross-Linked Polymers

Abstract

We study the dynamics of a pure-phase domain in a quenched melt of cross- linked polymers. Starting from de Gennes's mean-field theory, we obtain a pinning down of the coarsening process at a characteristic scale, which depends both on the rigidity constant and on the depth of the quench. Relaxation to the microdomains exhibits a critical slowing down in a whole range of parameters: this reduces the stability region of the modulated phase.