Pattern Formation during Ice Crystal Growth

In order to precisely analyze the factors concerning the pattern formation of crystal growth, an ice crystal growing freely in supercooled bulk water will be observed in-situ using an interference microscope under microgravity condition, in which the free convection in the growth chamber cannot occur. Three-dimensional patterns of ice crystals and the thermal diffusion field around the crystal will be analyzed from the experimental results.

Investigation on Mechanism of Faceted Cellular Array Growth

In order to investigate the phenomena at the solid-liquid interface in facet growth, in-situ observation of concentration and temperature diffusion field with two wavelength interferometer are carried out using transparent organic materials under microgravity condition.
Results can provide the useful data on the optimization of the crystal growth condition not only in space but also on earth.