AFM study of etching of cleaved {1 0 0} faces of L-arginine phosphate monohydrate single crystals I. Dislocation etch pits and step bunching

Abstract

The formation of dislocation etch pits and the process of coalescence of dissolution steps composing the walls of dislocation etch pits on the etched {1 0 0} cleavage faces of L-arginine phosphate (LAP) single crystals was studied by using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results show that (1) etch pits at edge and screw dislocations are formed by repeated two-dimensional nucleation mechanism, (2) the values of different slopes of etch pits in regions close to dislocation lines are due to differences in the stress fields of dislocations producing the etch pits, and that (3) the process of step bunching is statistical in nature.