Mesoscale morphology evolution of a GdAl3(BO3)4 single crystal in a flux system: a case study of thermodynamic control of the anisotropic mass transfer during crystal growth

Abstract

In the flux system of GdAl₃(BO₃)₄, the compromise in competition between thermodynamic and kinetic control on the mass transfer has been studied from the viewpoint of chemical engineering. Different control mechanisms on the mass transfer in the melt growth system result in various mesoscale morphologies of a single crystal. Both the calculated and experimental results demonstrate thermodynamic control of the anisotropic mass transfer during crystal growth, leading to the mesoscale morphology evolution of the GdAl₃(BO₃)₄ single crystal similar to the matryoshka. The present work can deepen our understanding of mesoscale morphology evolution of the GdAl₃(BO₃)₄ single crystal in the flux growth system.