Specific surface free energy and etch pit density of synthesized quartz crystal

Abstract

The specific surface free energy of growing faces of the synthetic quartz crystal, S, Z, +X, and −X faces was experimentally obtained using contact angle of water and formamide droplets on the crystal surfaces. The anisotropy of the specific surface free energy of the growing faces was explained by the difference of the steps on the faces, which originates from dislocations. In order to investigate the presence of the dislocation, the surface of the crystal was treated to form etch pits. The face with larger specific surface free energy has large density of etch pits, which suggests that the surface with high specific surface free energy has large number of steps originating from defects.