RT Journal Article
T1 Nanoscale growth of solids crystallising frommulticomponent aqueous solutions
A1 Astilleros García-Monge, José Manuel
A1 Pina Martínez, Carlos Manuel
A1 Fernández Díaz, María Lourdes
A1 Putnis, Andrew
AB The effect of foreign ions on the growth of pure crystals from aqueous solution is an important topic addressed by both crystal growth, mineral and surface sciences. However, many aspects of the role played by those ions remain unclear. Our atomic force microscope (AFM) observations of the propagation of monomolecular steps of crystals in solid solution–aqueous solution (SS–AS) systems show that step velocities are determined by the surface structure of the underlying layer, so that each new growth layer exerts adecisive influence on subsequent layers. Moreover, we show that our observations cannot be completely explained by present crystal growth models based on either the pinning of elementary step motion by impurities or changes in free energy by incorporation of different cations into the lattice. A surface strain relaxation model is proposed to explain the experimental observations. Our results, apart from providing an alternative explanation for the development of ‘‘dead zones’’, can shed light on poorly understood phenomena such as the development of compositional zoning in crystals.
PB Elsevier
SN 0039-6028
YR 2003
FD 2003
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/49789
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/49789
LA eng
DS Docta Complutense
RD 26 ago 2024