TIT# Visualisation of the structure transfer between an oriented polymer melt and the semi-crystalline state AUT# Stribeck, Norbert; Bayer, Rüdiger; Bösecke, Peter; Almendarez Camarillo, Armando; SOU# Polymer (2005), 46(8), 2579-2583 LOC# xv088 CLA# COM# APP# MAT# ABS# Nanostructure evolution of highly oriented polyethylene during cautious melting and crystallisation is investigated with high time resolution by means of small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS). The two-dimensional SAXS patterns are transformed to the multidimensional chord distribution function (CDF) in physical space. The results are continuous smooth movies of the structure evolution which elucidate the mechanisms of structure evolution. We find that crystallisation is preceeded by a peculiar nanostructure which we associate to the network of the entangled chains in the melt. This structure holds the key for the understanding of crystallite arrangement. The next stages of structure evolution are a fast lateral growth of lamellae from nuclei located at the ends of the entangled strands towards regions with lower entanglement density; thickness growth away from the entanglement strands accompanied by increase of perfection within the layers; and, finally, the crowding of the remnant amorphous phase by swarms of secondary crystalline blocks that form short-range networks with each other.