Imaging fields around growing crystals

A. G. Notcovich, I. Braslavsky, S. G. Lipson*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

Crystal growth morphologies arise from the interplay between interface mechanisms and temperature or concentration fields around the growing crystal. We shall describe experimental methods which we have developed in order to measure these fields in both two- and three- dimensional environments. We compare the observations with current growth theories for examples of two distinctly different types of crystal. The first example is NH4C1, a cubic crystal which grows dendritically from supersaturated aqueous solution, in which we have measured the two-dimensional concentration field by interference microscopy. The experiments allow determination of the anisotropies of both the surface tension and the kinetic growth admittance. As a result we have been able to explain the morphological transition observed in this crystal at high growth velocities. The second example is heavy ice (D2O) growing from supercooled heavy water, in which we have investigated the three-dimensional temperature field by interference tomography. Ice crystals are very anisotropic and show peculiar growth modes. We illustrate the use of the temperature map in understanding the stability of asymmetrical morphologies which have been observed in ice and other crystals.

Original languageAmerican English
Pages (from-to)10-16
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Crystal Growth
Volume198-199
Issue numberPART I
DOIs
StatePublished - 1999
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work has been supported by the GIF (German–Israel Science Foundation) and by the Minerva Centre for Non-Linear Science.

Keywords

  • Imaging fields
  • Interference microscopy
  • Morphology
  • Tomography

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