2023/06/06 by Kenneth G. Libbrecht, Libbrecht, Kenneth G., James Walkling +1
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #nanoparticles nucleation surface interactions #Atmospheric aerosols and clouds #Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2306.04042
Crystal faceting can emerge via two broad physical mechanisms: anisotropic attachment kinetics on growing crystals and anisotropic surface energies on near-equilibrium crystals. For the case of the ice/vapor system, anisotropic attachment kinetics is the dominant faceting mechanism, while the possible occurrence of equilibrium faceting has been debated for many decades. In this investigation we examine ice/vapor faceting at low supersaturations over the temperature range -15C-2C, thus suggesting that snow crystal faceting is caused by anisotropic attachment kinetics even at extremely slow growth rates.