Preliminary lateral force microscopy (LFM) results are presented which were obtained at different temperatures on thin films of poly(tetrafluoroethylene) prepared by friction deposition. Chain-chain distances of rodlike poly(tetrafluoroethylene) macromolecules were determined as a function of temperature from LFM images which exhibit molecular resolution. The value of the linear thermal expansion coefficient in the chain-perpendicular direction was estimated to be 3.5 x 10(-3) [1/degrees C] in the temperature range between +10 degrees C and +40 degrees C. This value is higher than the literature data quoted for the temperature range between 0 degrees C and 25 degrees C. Possible reasons for this deviation are discussed.