Effect of an electric field on nucleation and growth of crystals

Abstract

The effect of the electric field strength on nucleation and growth of the crystals of ammonium halides and alkali metal sulfates has been studied. The optimal electric field strength for NH Cl 4 and NH Br 4 crystals was found to be 15 kV/cm, and for NH I4 , it equaled 10 kV/cm. No effect of the electric field strength on the crystal growth was found for alkali metal sulfates. This difference is analyzed in terms of the crystal growth thermodynamics. In case, when the electric field is small and the Gibbs energy is of a significant value, the influence of the electric field at the crystal growth is negligible. A method to estimate the critical radius of homogeneous nucleation of the crystal is suggested.