In situ study on nucleation mechanism and surface morphology of zinc thiourea sulfate crystals

• Published in: Journal of crystal growth 2024-01, Vol.626, p.127461, Article 127461
• Main Authors: Song, Jie, Gong, Haifeng, Zeng, Junxiong, Qi, Wenjie, Feng, Shuai, Fu, Lijuan, Li, Mingwei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Defects; Edge dislocation; Growth mechanism; Nucleation
• ISSN: 0022-0248; 1873-5002
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2023.127461

•Nucleation is easily induced near microcrystals but don’t appear continuously.•Edge dislocation can be preferred for nucleation.•The time of 2D nuclei near the surface of the edge dislocation is different.•If 2D nuclei and dislocations co-exist, step height affects growth mechanism heavily. Different nucleation phenomena and defect formation were observed in scanning experiments on the (100) faces of zinc thiourea sulfate (ZTS) crystals using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). It was found that nucleation is easily induced near microcrystals, but two-dimensional nuclei do not appear continuously. Edge dislocation can be preferred for nucleation, but the time of occurrence of two-dimensional nuclei near the surface of the edge dislocation is not the same as the growth rate. When two-dimensional nuclei and dislocations co-exist, the step heights have a significant impact on which growth mechanism ultimately dominates. In addition, the experimental results show that the defects produced on the surface of ZTS crystals mainly include hollow defects, pits and liquid inclusions. The causes of the different defects are discussed. It is found that the height of the step has an important influence on the formation of liquid inclusions and their possible influence on the surface morphology is analysed.