Kinetics formulation for Two-Dimensional Growth Behavior of Water/Ice Interface on Si Substrate

Sublimation drying is used in the drying process of semiconductor device manufacturing. However, the solidification behavior mechanics of sublimation agents on substrates has not been clarified. Therefore, the properties of solidified films within substrate surfaces can become nonuniform, leading to their collapse. This study aimed to analyze the interface growth behavior during the cooling and solidification of a water/ice system as a basic case and to clarify the dynamic mechanism of the solidification behavior of liquid films on Si substrates. The solidification behavior of a water/ice system on Si substrates was captured on a video at different cooling rates. The recorded video was subjected to a digital image analysis to examine the crystal morphology and quantify the interface growth rate. The least-squares method with kinetic formulas was used to evaluate the feasibility of fitting the temperature variation to the interface growth rate. A visual examination of the morphology of interfacial growth revealed that it can be classified into four morphologies. The proposed kinetic equation describes the experimental results regarding the temperature dependence of the interfacial growth rate. Through image analysis, the interface growth rate of water and ice was quantified, and an evaluation formula was proposed.