Kink incorporation and step propagation in a non-Kossel model

Abstract

Most organic and protein crystals have more than one growth unit in the unit cell. For these structures different growth mechanisms apply as compared to the simple cubic Kossel crystal, since growth becomes a multiple step process. New model systems need to be developed to describe such processes. We present the results of a Monte Carlo simulation study of the kink incorporation and step propagation of several growth steps on a non-Kossel crystal structure. We will compare these results with several theoretical models. Our results show that the growth of the A-B crystal cannot be described by one universal expression, but that the local structure of the step is of great importance and influences the shape of the step velocity versus supersaturation curve. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.