Crystal growth layer spreading model

Microscopically, the interface reaction during crystal growth may be through various mechanisms. One mechanism is called the continuous model. Two other models are layer-spreading models. 

There are two layer-spreading models. In these models, the crystal surface is atomically flat except at screw dislocations or steps of a partially grown surface layer. If there are screw dislocations, growth would continue on the screw... 

Models used to describe the growth of crystals by layers call for a two-step process (/) formation of a two-dimensional nucleus on the surface and (2) spreading of the solute from the two-dimensional nucleus across the surface. The relative rates at which these two steps occur give rise to the mononuclear two-dimensional nucleation theory and the polynuclear two-dimensional nucleation theory. In the mononuclear two-dimensional nucleation theory, the surface nucleation step occurs at a finite rate, whereas the spreading across the surface is assumed to occur at an infinite rate. The reverse is tme for the polynuclear two-dimensional nucleation theory. Erom the mononuclear two-dimensional nucleation theory, growth is related to supersaturation by the equation. 

Once a surface nuclei is formed, the next question is how does the nuclei spread to form a complete layer. The simplest crystal growth theory assumes that when a surface nuclei is formed, it spreads across the surface at an infinite velocity. The surface must then await the formation of another surface nuclei. Since the ratedetermining step in this model is the formation of a surface nuclei, the growth rate of the crystal can be expressed as... 

In the mononuclear model, the limiting step is the formation of a nucleus. Once one is formed, the subsequent growth spreading across the crystal surface is infinitely rapid. For the polynuclear model, the spreading velocity is taken as zero and the crystal surface can only be covered by the accumulation of a sufficient number of nuclei. These two growth models represent two extreme cases. A third model, known as the birth-and-spread model, allows for formation of nuclei and their subsequent growth at a finite rate. In this case, new nuclei can form on top of uncompleted layers. 

This problem was initially analyzed by Nielsen (172), Hillig (173) and Calvert and Uhlmann (140) for the crystallization of low molecular weight substances. In the small crystal model, where the rate of spreading is much greater than that of nucleation, the growth step sweeps completely over the crystal substrate of length L and pauses before the next layer is nucleated. Formally, let dn be the number of nuclei that form in the time interval t to t 4- rft on the surface of the crystal face. Then those that nucleated at time t = 0 can be expressed as... 

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