Variation of Surface Energy during Growth of Polyhedral Crystal

Abstract

Surface energy of a polyhedral crystal is evaluated depending on the energy of the faces, edges, and vertices of the polyhedron, and the relative contribution varies with increase in particle size. Therefore, the stable shape changes with growth of the crystal. In this study, the surface energy of the polyhedral crystal was formulated using the number of constitutive elements. The standard energy of each element was evaluated using molecular dynamics simulation, and then the size dependency of the surface energy was estimated. Finally, the change in shape during the crystal growth was simulated, and it was shown that a drastic change in shape could occur.