The AFM-tip-induced crystallization of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) melt droplets was studied.The melt droplets with a height of 50-100 nm and a lateral size of 2-3 pm were obtained by melting the PEO ultra-thin films on a mica surface.For the PEO samples with average molecular weights (Mn) ranging from 1.0×103 g/mol to 1.0×104 g/mol,the lateral perturbation from the AFM tip in the hard-tapping or nanoscratch modes could not induce the growth of the flaton lamellae.In contrast,under AFM nanoindentation mode,the tip-induced crystallization occurred when a sufficiently high vertical tip force was applied to the melt droplets of PEO with Mn≥1.0×104 g/mol. Moreover,the experimental results indicated that the AFM-tip-induced crystallization of PEO in the nanoindentation process had molecular weight dependence.