Correlation between growth of high-index faces, relative growth rates and crystallographic structure of crystal

According to contemporary crystal growth theories, crystals are bound by low-index faces which are the most slowly growing. However, high-index faces are observed in crystal habits more and more often. In this paper the growth of high-index faces is analysed from a crystallographic perspective. It is shown that the crystallographic structure of a given crystal, expressed by the trigonometric function of appropriate interfacial angles, influences to great degree the crystallisation process and the morphology of crystals, in particular the behaviour of high-index faces. Additionally, it is concluded that at particular crystallographic structure of a crystal, a given high-index face may exist in the habit and develop its size, although it grows much faster than the neighbouring faces. Received 31 July 2001     

Finite-size scaling study of the Laplacian roughening model

We perform further Monte Carlo simulations of the Laplacian roughening model on a triangular lattice to decide whether two-dimensional defect melting proceeds in a single first-order or two successive continuous transitions, as predicted by two conflicting theories. Of the two alternatives, the new high-statistics Monte Carlo data favor the single first-order transition.     

Thermal roughening of a thin film: A new type of roughening transition

It is found that an m = n = 1 mode with amplitude exceeding a certain threshold can lead to stochastic motion of energetic ions in tokamaks, the large orbit width particles (potatoes) being most easily affected. An n = 1 mode can redistribute particles also in the absence of stochasticity but only when the perturbation is quickly switched on/off, e.g., during a sawtooth crash. In the latter case, the perturbation results in a regular motion of particles around a certain helical orbit, at which a resonance driven by the mode but having no amplitude threshold takes place.     

Functional renormalization description of the roughening transition

We reconsider the problem of the static thermal roughening of an elastic manifold at the critical dimension d=2 in a periodic potential, using a perturbative Functional Renormalization Group approach. Our aim is to describe the effective potential seen by the manifold below the roughening temperature on large length scales. We obtain analytically a flow equation for the potential and surface tension of the manifold, valid for low temperatures. On a length scale L, the renormalized potential is made up of a succession of quasi parabolic wells, matching onto one another in a singular region of width for large L. For strong periodic potential, the perturbation theory breaks down, and we argue, based on a variational calculation, that the transition becomes first order. We also obtain numerically the step energy as a function of temperature, and relate our results to the existing experimental data on ⁴He. Finally, we examine the case of a non local elasticity which is realized physically for the contact line. Received 16 April 1999 and Received in final form 11 October 1999     

The roughening transition of vicinal surfaces

Facetting of a vicinal surface is due to an arrangement of parallel primary steps which is commensurate with the substrate in plane periodicity (for instance one step every pth atomic row). It was shown by [#!Grempel!#] that such a locking requires an interaction between steps together with a finite step stiffness. But this early approach only reveals part of the story, as it is limited to sharp solid-vacuum interfaces in which thermal excitation of energetically expensive kinks controls all fluctuations. In this paper the problem is taken afresh in a language which applies equally well to “soft” interfaces, with important changes in the conclusions. Received 26 June 2001     

The roughening transition of the three-dimensional Ising interface: A Monte Carlo study

We study the roughening transition of an interface in an Ising system on a 3D simple cubic lattice using a finite-size scaling method. The particular method has recently been proposed and successfully tested for various solid-on-solid models. The basic idea is the matching of the renormalization-groupflow of the interface with that of the exactly solvable body-centered cubic solid-on-solid model. We unambiguously confirm the Kosterlitz-Thouless nature of the roughening transition of the Ising interface. Our result for the inverse transition temperatureK _r=0.40754(5) is almost two orders of magnitude more accurate than the estimate of Mon, Landau, and Stauffer.     

Monte Carlo study of surface roughening in the three-dimensional Ising model

Above a roughening temperature of about 0.56T _c the thickness of the two-dimensional interface separating domain on a simple cubic lattice is found to increase roughly logarithmically with system size. Also, the interface tension is determined for temperatures belowT _c.     

A phase-field/Monte-Carlo model describing organic crystal growth from solution

In this paper work we present a phase-field/Monte-Carlo hybrid algorithm for the simulation of solutal growth of organic crystals. The algorithm is subsequently used for an investigation of diffusion effects on the growth mechanisms. This method combines a two-scale phase-field model of the liquid phase epitaxial growth and a Monte-Carlo algorithm of the 2D nucleation and thus is faster than previous purely Monte Carlo simulations of crystal growth. The inclusion of supersaturation and diffusion in the method allows the study of crystal growth under various growth conditions. Parameters used in the hybrid algorithm are bound to the energetic parameters of crystal faces, which can be estimated from a detailed study of the actual crystal structure based on a connected nets analysis, which allows the prediction of the shape and morphology of real crystals. The study of the diffusion effect is carried out based on an example of a hydroquinone crystal, which grows from the water solution at various supersaturations. The dependencies of the growth rate and the nucleation rate on the supersaturation indicate the change of the growth mechanism from spiral growth to 2D nucleation. The difference in the growth rate for various faces is in agreement with the crystal morphologies derived from the attachment energy method and observed experimentally. The main result of the simulation is the evaluation of engineering limits for choosing appropriate external process conditions.     

On the roughening transition in abelian lattice gauge theories

We study the width of the confining string between static quarks in abelian lattice gauge theories using strong coupling expansions. We consider gauge groups Z_n and U(1) in 3 and 4 dimensions. This extends previous work with Lüscher, where SU(2) and Z₂ were studied. In ν = 3 dimensions we find evidence for a roughening transition. It is characterized by a divergence of the string width for an infinitely far separated quark-antiquark pair, while the string tension remains non-zero. In ν = 4 dimensions for the abelian groups we do not have evidence for a roughening transition away from a phase transition.     

The role of time scale separation in a nonequilibrium roughening transition

In this work we analyze the role of time scale separation between the external driving and the avalanche relaxation dynamics in a one-dimensional model of propagation of innovations among economic agents. When the time scales are separated the model presents a nonequilibrium roughening transition. We show that when avalanche overlapping is permitted, only a rough phase is observed.