Real-time microscopy of the relaxation of a glass

Abstract The understanding of the dynamics a glass above its devitrification temperature remains incomplete. Here, we build spatio-temporal map relaxation highly stable into supercooled liquid using real-time atomic force microscopy imaging. This methodology enables direct visualization progression phase and clarifies quantifies presence localized fast mobility regions separated by giant length scales. Our data establish clear correlation between dynamic time scales in glasses. approach may also be applicable to unveil microscopic structure other glass-forming systems with much shorter scales, including liquid-cooled