Reversible evolution phenomenon of particle during crystal growth: A phase-field study

Abstract

The two-dimensional thermodynamically consistent phase field model, which consists of the anisotropic Allen-Cahn type equation and the heat equation, is used to study the morphological pattern of the particle in the initial stage of crystal growth. The results reveal the locally reversible growth of the particle in the initial stage of crystal growth. Specifically, some parts of the particle interface first grow inward, while others grow outward from the interface of critical nucleation, until the growth speed of the interface becomes zero. After this, the inward growth parts start to grow outward with other parts. The locally reversible growth of the particle leads to the development of a petal-like shape. The particle radius size dependence of the temperatures along the parts of the particle interface in different crystallographic directions at different time points is studied. By a series of results, the correlations between the morphological pattern selection of the particle and the model parameters, including undercooling and anisotropic strength, are analyzed. These results contribute to understanding the fundamental mechanism of the particle evolution during crystal growth.