Open AccessStep-bunching instability of growing interfaces between ice and supercooled water
Author(s) -
Kenichiro Murata,
Masahide Sato,
Makio Uwaha,
Saito Fumiaki,
K. Nagashima,
Gen Sazaki
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2115955119
Subject(s) - instability , supercooling , chemical physics , crystal growth , interferometry , ice crystals , spiral (railway) , materials science , dynamics (music) , nanotechnology , optics , crystallography , chemistry , physics , mechanics , thermodynamics , mathematics , mathematical analysis , acoustics
Significance Step-bunching instability (SBI) is one of the interfacial instabilities driven by self-organization of elementary step flow associated with crystal-growth dynamics, which has been observed in diverse crystalline materials. However, despite theoretical suggestions of its presence, no direct observations of SBI for simple melt growth have been achieved so far. Here, with the aid of a type of optical microscope and its combination with a two-beam interferometer, we realized quantitative in situ observations of the spatiotemporal dynamics of the SBI. This enables us to examine the origin of the SBI at the level of the step–step interaction. We also found that the SBI spontaneously induces a highly stable spiral growth mode, governing the late stage of the growth process.