FORMATION OF STEP DENSITY SHOCK WAVES ON VICINAL NaCl(100) GROWTH SURFACES

Abstract

The morphology of the growth surface near NaCl(100), formed during the pore motion in a crystal due to the temperature gradient, has been studied by the electron microscopic method of vacuum decoration. It is shown that at T = 950 K and ∆μ/kT = 4·10-3, the profile of the vicinal surface in the <11> direction is represented by monoatomic steps, while in the <10> direction, as the surface curvature increases, there is a grouping of steps with the formation of macrosteps – bunches of elementary steps separated by areas of atomically smooth terraces. The sawtooth dependence of the step density on the longitudinal coordinate is described by a particular solution of the Burgers equation for a shock wave. Data on the parameters of three shock waves and the time of their formation are obtained.