Role of screw dislocations in electrolytic crystal growth

Abstract

The theory of form and interstep distance of spirals and the growth rate of crystals under spiral growth conditions are discussed and illustrated for the electrodeposition of silver. The overvoltage dependence of the slopes of pyramids can be used for the evaluation of the rate of propagation and the specific edge energy of the spiral steps, the latter being also accessible from experimental current against overvoltage curves. The coincidence of these values with values obtained from other experiments (two-dimensional nucleation) is a good proof of the validity of the theory of spiral growth.