Premium
In situ measurement of crystal surface dynamics in pure and contaminated solutions by Confocal Microscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy
Author(s) -
Driessche Alexander E. S.,
Sleutel Mike
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
crystal research and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.377
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1521-4079
pISSN - 0232-1300
DOI - 10.1002/crat.201200714
Subject(s) - crystallization , impurity , atomic force microscopy , crystal (programming language) , crystal growth , confocal microscopy , nanotechnology , chemical physics , microscopy , in situ , materials science , confocal , chemistry , optics , crystallography , physics , computer science , organic chemistry , programming language
Impurities are omnipresent during crystallization from solution, both in the lab and in natural environments. Unravelling the mechanisms of impurity effects during crystal growth contributes to the general understanding of crystallization processes and our ability to control it. One way of obtaining information on the impurity mechanisms is to observe the interaction of these foreign species with the growth sites in situ, if possible at a molecular level. At present several optical based techniques are being employed for this type of research. In this chapter, the application of two popular methods in the area of crystal growth observation, atomic force microscopy and confocal microscopy, will be discussed, pointing out the strong points of each technique illustrated with examples from literature and the authors own work. The aim of this chapter is to show experimentalists, venturing into the field of crystal growth, the wide array of research possibilities these techniques offer for exploring the intriguing world of impurity interactions with crystalline materials.