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Updated: Jul 15, 2026
11:48
Microfluidic Chips for In Situ Crystal X-ray Diffraction and In Situ Dynamic Light Scattering for Serial Crystallography
Published on: April 24, 2018
Dripping of a crystal.
R Ishiguro1, F Graner, E Rolley
1Laboratoire de Physique Statistique de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure, associé aux Universités Paris 6 et Paris 7 et au CNRS, 24 rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France.
Summary
Researchers describe crystal melting and growth analogous to fluid dripping, revealing new scaling exponents for neck radius evolution during pinch-off. This phenomenon offers insights into crystal dynamics under surface tension and gravity.
Area of Science:
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Materials Science
- Fluid Dynamics Analogs
Background:
- Crystal growth and melting are typically studied independently of fluid dynamics phenomena like dripping.
- Surface tension and gravity are key forces influencing macroscopic material behavior at interfaces.
- Understanding crystal pinch-off dynamics is crucial for materials processing and fundamental physics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the phenomenon of crystal melting and growth analogous to fluid dripping.
- To characterize the pinch-off dynamics of a 3He crystal under surface tension and gravity.
- To determine the scaling exponents governing the neck radius evolution during crystal pinch-off.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical modeling using a purely geometric equation of motion, neglecting viscous dissipation and inertia.
- Experimental observation of 3He crystal growth and melting.
- Numerical simulations to analyze crystal neck recoil after pinch-off.
Main Results:
- The pinch-off of a 3He crystal follows a power-law scaling for the minimum neck radius, R{n}.
- A novel scaling exponent of 1/2 was identified for the asymptotic pinch-off.
- A transient scaling exponent closer to 1/3 was observed during macroscopic neck evolution and crystal tip recoil, consistent with simulations and theory.
Conclusions:
- Crystal pinch-off dynamics exhibit analogies to fluid dripping, governed by geometric factors.
- The observed transient 1/3 scaling may indicate a slow approach to the asymptotic 1/2 scaling regime.
- Further experiments are needed to confirm the universality of the transient 1/3 scaling in crystal melting.
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