The relaxation times of the conformational rearrangements of the main-chain
segments of a liquid crystalline side-chain polymer was determined from di
fferential scanning calorimetry experiments in the temperature interval aro
und and below its glass transition. Phenomenological models with fitting pa
rameters were used to evaluate the temperature dependence of the relaxation
times and the form parameter of the relaxation times distribution. These p
arameters were compared with its counterparts in the dielectric alpha relax
ation process which appear in the temperature interval immediately above th
e calorimetric glass transition. For the temperature interval below the cal
orimetric glass transition the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) resu
lts were compared with the dielectric results obtained by the thermally sti
mulated depolarisation technique. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights
reserved.