In-situ observation of crystal growth in microgravity by high-resolution microscopies

High resolution in-situ observation methods were developed for the investigation of crystal growth mechanisms from solution phases. Crystal surfaces were observed by phase sensitive microscopies and the concentration gradient and the surface concentration of a solution were measured by interferometries. In order to investigate the morphological instability of a crystal based on a surface kinetics model, in-situ observations of crystal growth in microgravity were planned. The first model was flown in September 1991. These observation methods would further be developed by employing newly developed real time phase shift interferometry, which is more than 100 times sensitive than the other interferometries. This would be very suitable also for the investigation of transient phenomena on crystal growth in a drop tower.

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