Crystal Growth Velocity in As₂Se₃ Supercooled Liquid

The crystal growth velocity of spherulitic As 2 Se 3 in a supercooled melt of the same composition was studied by optical microscopy and thermoanalytical methods in isothermal and nonisothermal conditions. The time dependence of crystal size is linear, which suggests the crystal growth is controlled by interface kinetics. Crystal growth velocity was determined as the slope of these linear dependences. The experimental results presented in this paper considerably extend the previously reported range of crystal growth velocity. All isothermal crystal growth velocity data can be well described by the standard two-dimensional surface nucleated growth model (2Dsg) including crystal growth viscosity decoupling (ξ = 0.647). The activation energy of crystal growth for microscopic experiments is in a good agreement with values obtained from thermoanalytical experiments, and the ratio of the activation energy of crystal growth and the activation energy of viscous flow well corresponds to an independently determined decoupling parameter. The same model successfully describes also crystalline layer thickness and growth pattern at the amorphous As 2 Se 3 surface in nonisothermal conditions.