Facet morphology response to nonuniformities in nutrient and impurity supply. I. Experiments and interpretation

The growth morphology and kinetics of crystal facets were investigated by in-situ high-resolution optical interferometry, using tetragonal lysozyme as a model system. The protein composition of the growth solutions was characterized by high pressure liquid chromatography and gel electrophoresis. In relatively pure solutions, the facets exhibited depressions with lower vicinal slope at their edges. In solutions with ≤ 1% of protein impurities,...