The trouble with
crystal facets
Dionisios Margetis,
University of Maryland, College Park
Abstract:
At low enough
temperatures, the surfaces of crystals often have macroscopic
flat parts called facets. In many experimental situations,
crystal surface structures are not in equilibrium.
Consequently, these
structures along with their facets evolve. A challenging issue
is to describe facet evolution by use of continuum models
(PDEs) consistently with the underlying motion of crystal
defects, especially atomic steps. In this talk, I will present
progress and open questions in this direction.