December 22, 2012

Suspend the crystals, and they grow better




The idea is so simple you wonder why no one thought of it before.Crystals growing near the bottom of a beaker are subject to convection,but it is much quieter near the top of the beaker.In that case, why not just let them grow hanging in the beaker?Well, the idea was there for the taking, and that is exactly what Elias Vlieg and his team from Radboud University Nijmegen have done.Their work will be published in this month's edition of Crystal Growth & Design.