Nanometer Scale Dielectric Fluctuations at the Glass Transition
  Using non-contact scanning probe microscopy (SPM) techniques, dielectric properties were studied on 50 nanometer length scales in poly-vinyl-acetate (PVAc) films in the vicinity of the glass transition. Low frequency (1/f) noise observed in the measurements, was shown to arise from thermal fluctuations of the electric polarization. Anomalous variations observed in the noise spectrum provide direct evidence for cooperative nano-regions with heterogeneous kinetics. The cooperative length scale was determined. Heterogeneity was long-lived only well below the glass transition for faster than average processes. 
E. Vidal Russell, N. E. Israeloff, L. E. Walther and H. Alvarez   Gomariz (Northeastern Univ., Boston, USA)