title: Direct visualization of random crystallization and melting in arrays of nanometer-size polymer crystals.
abstract: Using tapping mode atomic force microscopy, we visualized in direct space and time resolved the changes in viscoelastic properties during crystallization and melting of polyethyleneoxide in 12 nm spheres of a block copolymer mesophase. All spheres crystallized individually and independently, randomly distributed sphere by sphere. Melting of the confined crystals also proceeded in a stochastic manner. Not all spheres melted at the same temperature, indicating different degrees of order of the individual nanometer-size polymer crystals. The independence of the spheres opens the possibility to manipulate material properties of surfaces at the nanometer scale.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Chimie des Surfaces et Interfaces, CNRS, 15, rue Jean Starcky, B.P. 2488, 68057 Mulhouse Cedex, France.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Reiter
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Castelein
authors.forename: J U
authors.initials: JU
authors.lastname: Sommer
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Röttele
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Thurn-Albrecht