2011/11/11 by Kenneth G. Libbrecht, Libbrecht, Kenneth G. · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Engineering · Materials Science · #Cryospheric studies and observations #Crystallization and Solubility Studies #FOS: Physical sciences #Icing and De-icing Technologies #Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) #Solidification and crystal growth phenomena #nanoparticles nucleation surface interactions
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1111.2786
openalex publication_date 2011/11/11 · openalex created_date 2022/10/03 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We present observations of the formation of plate-like snow crystals that\nprovide evidence for an edge-enhancing crystal growth instability. This\ninstability arises when the condensation coefficient describing the growth of\nan ice prism facet increases as the width of the facet becomes narrower.\nCoupled with the effects of particle diffusion, this phenomenon causes thin\nplate-like crystals to develop from thicker prisms, sharpening the edges of the\nplates to micron or sub-micron dimensions as they grow. This sharpening effect\nis largely responsible for the formation of thin plate-like ice crystals from\nwater vapor near -15 C, which is a dominant feature in the snow crystal\nmorphology diagram. Other faceted crystalline materials may exhibit similar\nmorphological growth instabilities that promote the diffusion-limited growth of\nplate-like or needle-like structures.\n