Highly oriented beta-PVDF thin layer was produced by shearing the supercooled PVDF melt at 160 degrees C with a knife blade. The oriented b-PVDF crystals were found to be effective inducing the transcrystallization of the non-sheared PVDF melt at 160 degrees C and leading to the formation of a transcrystalline alpha-PVDF layer. Annealing of the transcrystalline alpha-PVDF, the well-known alpha-to-gamma' phase transition takes place uniformly at the beta alpha interface, leading the induced gamma'-PVDF crystals propagate homogenously from interface outward in transcrystalline a-PVDF layer. The alpha-to-gamma' phase transition proceeds much slower than the growth of the transcrystalline alpha-PVDF layer. Nevertheless, a uniform transcrystalline gamma'-PVDF layer of hundreds of micrometers can be created with sufficient time, which provides a novel method for producing gamma'-PVDF with controlled morphology and improved yield. The beta-PVDF induced alpha-to-gamma' phase transition is also suggested to be triggered by the TTT sequences. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.