Real-time microscopic view of the relaxation of a glass

TL;DR

This study employs real-time AFM imaging to visualize and quantify the relaxation dynamics of a stable glass transitioning into a supercooled liquid, revealing localized mobility regions and correlations between dynamic length and time scales.

Contribution

It introduces a novel real-time microscopy method to directly observe glass relaxation, providing new insights into microscopic dynamics and length scales in glassy systems.

Findings

Visualization of localized fast mobility regions

Establishment of correlation between dynamic length and time scales

Potential applicability to other glass-forming systems

Abstract

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