Instability of Faceted Crystal Shapes and their Transformation into Skeletons during Growth under Diffusion Control

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Abstract
The (in-)stability of polyhedral forms of crystals which grow under conditions of hindered transport in the parent phase is reviewed. Together with classical results, new ideas on the explanation of the process have been considered. Experimental results on the growth of crystals from the vapour phase, from aqueous solutions and during electrocrystallization are the basis for treatment. The parameters causing the loss of stability, and the transition from isometric to skeletal and dendritic growth of crystals elucidated experimentally, have been compared with the predictions of a phenomenological theory of polyhedral stability, which is based on Seeger's approximation for the inhomogeneous concentration distribution about the crystal face growing under diffusion limitation. Intensive efforts have been made to investigate the details of the step kinetics leading to the appearance of shallow cavities in the crystal faces. At the end, for comparison purposes, the growth of some peculiar crystal forms, namely whiskers and thin plates, has been considered as well.

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