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Updated: Jun 14, 2026

High-resolution Imaging of Nuclear Dynamics in Live Cells under Uniaxial Tensile Strain
Published on: June 2, 2019
Real-space imaging of nucleation and growth in colloidal crystallization
U Gasser1, E R Weeks, A Schofield
1Department of Physics and Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. gasser@deas.harvard.edu
Abstract:
Crystallization of concentrated colloidal suspensions was studied in real space with laser scanning confocal microscopy. Direct imaging in three dimensions allowed identification and observation of both nucleation and growth of crystalline regions, providing an experimental measure of properties of the nucleating crystallites. By following their evolution, we identified critical nuclei, determined nucleation rates, and measured the average surface tension of the crystal-liquid interface. The structure of the nuclei was the same as the bulk solid phase, random hexagonal close-packed, and their average shape was rather nonspherical, with rough rather than faceted surfaces.
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