Observation of the growth and surface structure of ice on ionic crystal by atomic force microscopy

Abstract

The surface of ice is known as the place where various phenomena occur. However, the detailed surface structure is still unknown. In this study, we used atomic force microscopy to observe the growth and surface structure of ice on a KCl(001) substrate. As a result, when the amount of water exposure was small, a novel periodic structure, which seems to be the interface structure, were observed. On the other hand, when the amount of water was increased, the substrate was covered with uniform crystalline ice, and the surface showed the same structure as that grown on the metal substrates.