Formation of Stacking Faults during Ice Growth on Hexagonal and Cubic Substrates

Abstract

We present a molecular dynamics simulation study of ice growth from supercooled water in contact with: (i) the basal plane of hexagonal ice and (ii) the (111) plane of cubic ice. We observe that, regardless of the substrate, a variable number of stacking faults appear during the crystallization. The simulations also show that the formation of cubic ice is more likely than the formation of hexagonal ice, in agreement with recent experimental findings and the Ostwald step rule.