Relaxation kinetics of the plastic crystal succinonitrile

Abstract

The relaxation kinetics of the optical Kerr effect of succinonitrile [${(\mathrm{C}{\mathrm{H}}_{2}\mathrm{C}\mathrm{N})}_{2}$] is measured in the liquid and plastic-crystal phases. The Kerr intensity decay profile of the plastic crystal indicates that more than one relaxation mechanism is operative. The temperature-dependence study of succinonitrile's relaxation time in the plastic-crystal phase yields an activation energy of 2.6 kcal/mole.