Gasser U, Weeks E R, Schofield A, Pusey P N, Weitz D A
Department of Physics and Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Science. 2001 Apr 13;292(5515):258-62. doi: 10.1126/science.1058457.
Crystallization of concentrated colloidal suspensions was studied in real space with laser scanning confocal microscopy. Direct imaging in three dimensions allowed identification and observation of both nucleation and growth of crystalline regions, providing an experimental measure of properties of the nucleating crystallites. By following their evolution, we identified critical nuclei, determined nucleation rates, and measured the average surface tension of the crystal-liquid interface. The structure of the nuclei was the same as the bulk solid phase, random hexagonal close-packed, and their average shape was rather nonspherical, with rough rather than faceted surfaces.
利用激光扫描共聚焦显微镜在实空间中研究了浓缩胶体悬浮液的结晶过程。三维直接成像能够识别和观察结晶区域的成核与生长情况，从而提供了一种测量成核微晶性质的实验方法。通过跟踪它们的演化过程，我们识别出了临界核，确定了成核速率，并测量了晶体 - 液体界面的平均表面张力。核的结构与体相固相相同，为随机六方密堆积，其平均形状相当非球形，表面粗糙而非光滑。
