Optical, mechanical, and photoelastic anisotropy of biaxially stretched polyethylene terephthalate films studied using transmission ellipsometer equipped with strain camera and stress gauge

The anisotropic properties of polyethylene terephthalate film resulting from its manufacturing process are quantitatively investigated in terms of its optical, mechanical, and photoelastic aspects. Transmission ellipsometers and a Jones‐matrix‐based analysis software together with a 4 × 4 Berreman‐matrix‐based analysis software are adopted to determine the wavelength‐dependent in‐plane birefringence, the principal refractive indices, and the orientation of the optical axis. Mechanical anisotropy is characterized in terms of the elastic compliance tensor components using the measured azimuthal angle‐dependent Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio. From the measured variation of the wavelength‐dependent in‐plane birefringence as a function of tensile stress, the dispersive photoelastic coefficients are obtained for a few sample azimuthal angles, and the components of the photoelastic tensor are determined. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2019, 57, 152–160