近日，复旦大学谭鹏团队研究了杂质对晶体生长的影响。相关论文发表在2025年4月15日出版的《自然—物理学》杂志上。

杂质对结晶过程有着至关重要的影响，结晶过程是物理科学和工业工程的基础。然而，了解杂质传输如何影响结晶过程带来了巨大的实验挑战。

研究组在单颗粒水平上可视化了相对高浓度杂质的结晶。他们观察到生长模式的分叉——连续生长或熔化和再结晶——这取决于系统从生长前沿去除杂质颗粒的能力。初始成核构型决定了晶粒尺寸和生长前沿形态，进而影响杂质传输。小晶粒促进横向杂质传输到晶界，从而降低杂质浓度并有利于连续生长，而大晶粒则积聚杂质，导致熔化和再结晶。

他们发现后者是由结晶和玻璃化之间的竞争引起的，玻璃化是失透的一种形式。该研究深入探讨了杂质浓度与结晶途径之间的关系，并强调了初始构型如何塑造最终的晶体形态。

附：英文原文

Title: Impact of impurities on crystal growth

Author: Gao, Qiong, Fang, Huang, Xiang, Dong, Chen, Yanshuang, Tanaka, Hajime, Tan, Peng

Issue&Volume: 2025-04-15

Abstract: Impurities critically influence crystallization, a process fundamental to both physical sciences and industrial engineering. However, understanding how impurity transport affects crystallization presents substantial experimental challenges. Here we visualized crystallization at the single-particle level for a relatively high concentration of impurities. We observed a bifurcation in growth modes—continuous growth or melting and recrystallization—governed by the ability of the system to remove impurity particles from the growth front. The initial nucleation configuration determines the crystal grain size and growth-front morphology, which in turn influence impurity transport. Small grains promote lateral impurity transport to grain boundaries, thus reducing impurity concentration and favouring continuous growth, whereas larger grains accumulate impurities, leading to melting and recrystallization. We reveal that the latter arises from the competition between crystallization and vitrification, which is a form of devitrification. This study provides insights into the relation between impurity concentration and crystallization pathways and highlights how the initial configuration shapes the final crystal morphology.

DOI: 10.1038/s41567-025-02870-4

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-025-02870-4