Monitoring In Situ Growth and Dissolution of Molecular Crystals: Towards Determination of the Growth Units

摘要

Molecular crystal growth in solution takes place at the crystal-fluid interface. The local structure at this boundary plays a primary role in determining the composition, growth, and habit of the crystal Until recently experimental in situ studies ofcrystal growth made use mainly of optical methods, which provided information not only on the micron level but also on monomolecular steps. With the advent of atomic force microscopy (AFM) it became possible to monitor the crystal-liquid interface on thesubnanometer scale.