Surface morphologies of anthracene single crystals grown from vapor phase

The morphologies and lattice structures of anthracene single crystals grown from the vapor phase were investigated using optical microscopy, phase contrast microscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and X-ray diffraction analysis. Common morphologies with hexagonal large planes were observed irrespective of crystal size. The observation of certain surface morphologies with a phase contrast microscopy revealed that the spiral steps originated from screw dislocations present on the (0 0 1) planes. Moreover, the center and edge of the (0 0 1) planes had large curvatures, similar to hills. Resultantly, quarter-monolayer (ML) steps were observed on the large and flat planes between both hills.