WAIKEN'S WONDERS
Like frost on your window in winter, some polymers crystallize in a similar manner, starting from a central point and growing outwards in all directions. They are roughly spherical in shape, and, hence, are called spherulites. To fill space, they grow into each other, forming the polyhedrons (multi-sided objects) that you see here. If you look at them in a polarizing microscope, a Maltese cross pattern can be seen. The different colors of light can be used to provide information on the spatial arrangement of the crystals.

DONG SEOK'S PEPPERMINTS
It is exciting to be exposed to the wonders of the microscopic world. This is particularly true if you are studying how polymers solidify and form sphere-like arrangements of crystals, called spherulites. Like ice on a window in the winter, the growth of these crystals begins at many centers at the same time. The crystals grow out from these centers in all directions and meet each other to fill up space. With polarized light in a microscope, the arrangement of the polymer molecules in the spherulites can be determined by the colors that appear in the different parts of the spherulite.

TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES
These worm-like patterns could be some life-form deep on the ocean floor. However, this is far from the case. The periodic patterns seen here were created on a polymer surface placed under an electric field. Each worm is a ripple on the film surface, with the size and shape of these features determined by the strength of the applied electric field and the properties of the polymer. The colors -- like an oil slick -- are caused by light bouncing off the surface of the polymer and the underlying support, and describe the contour of the surface.

THE BLOSSOMS OF SHUJUN
Imagine a layered cake, a parfait or any layered dessert. A similar type of layering occurs in thin films of block copolymers, only the layers are tens of nanometers thick (a hundred thousand times thinner than a sheet of paper)! If we place a liquid on the surface that attracts one of the layers beneath, then the layers within the film will rearrange themselves in an attempt to allow the attracted layer to reach the liquid. The floral arrangement shown here, is actually an electron microscope image that captured such a rearrangement, only it has been magnified twenty thousand times.

GREEN WITH ENVY
Like raindrops crystallizing into snowflakes as they fall, some polymers crystallize in a similar way, starting from a central point and growing outwards in all directions. They are like spheres of crystals and, hence, are called spherulites. To fill space, they grow into each other forming the polyhedrons (multi-sided figures) that you see here. If you look at the crystal in a polarizing microscope, the Maltese cross pattern is seen. By filtering the light, the different colors can be used to provide information on the structure.

XU TING ROOTS
This captivating band of features that look like roots was produced by placing an electric field across the surface of a thin polymer film. This causes the surface of the film to become unstable, forming a wave pattern on the surface that grows as time passes. Eventually a band of lines is seen that resemble the roots of a tree. This image was captured in an optical microscope. The colors arise from light reflecting off the surface of the polymer and the underlying support. The colors tell you what the thickness of the film is and, so, the contour of the surface can be directly measured. In this image, the roots appear to be shooting across the field of view.