Dynamic heterogeneity in supercooled ortho-terphenyl studied by multidimensional deuteron NMR

Abstract

Using deuteron NMR, we have studied molecular reorientation rates and rate exchange processes in supercooled ortho-terphenyl. We monitor the re-equilibration of differently selected subensembles through four-time stimulated echo experiments. A comparison of the two-time with the four-time echoes suggests that the characteristic time scales for reorientation and dynamical exchange are relatively similar. The four-time correlation functions were described using various multi-state rate exchange models.