Nanoscale Ice: Spectroscopic Ellipsometry of Epitaxially-Grown Crystals

A new laboratory technique has been developed to examine the surface characteristics and kinetics of ice crystals at the nanoscale. Uncertainties remain regarding the fundamental physics of nucleation and depositional growth in atmospheric ice crystals. These molecular-scale uncertainties propagate upward into modeling outcomes at all scales of atmospheric interest: particle models, cloud models, mesoscale models, and climate models. Molecular-scale growth mechanisms and kinetics have been mainly inferred from bulk and particle-scale experiments as well as crystal-growth theory. The precarious nature of the ice surface resisted the first generation of direct nanoscale probing technologies, but new in-situ techniques including ESEM, AFM, and ellipsometry promise to divulge a wealth of new knowledge. Spectroscopic ellipsometry measures changes in the polarization state of light as it reflects off the surface of a thin film. This non-destructive technique is capable of measuring layer thicknesses as small as a single monolayer (~1 Å) and up to thicknesses of ~10 μm. Other physical parameters including index of refraction and surface roughness are also accessible. At the TCNJ Cloud Physics Laboratory, a Horiba Scientific Auto-SE ellipsometer (440 - 1000 nm spectral range) has been adapted for in-situ measurements of ice crystals. The ice crystals are grown epitaxially on various horizontal substrates in a custom-built static diffusion chamber. The diffusion chamber is housed within a vacuum chamber and an optical path is provided from the ellipsometer light source to sample stage and back to the ellipsometer analyzer at 75° from normal. The diffusion chamber is cooled in two stages, with initial cooling accomplished with a fluid-chilled block and final chilling controlled by two independent thermoelectric cells. A wide range of temperatures, pressures, and saturation ratios are accessible: from 0°C to -30°C, 50mb to atmospheric pressure, and from subsaturated to greater that 200% RHi. Temperature and moisture profiles are continuously determined by platinum resistance thermometers. Optimization of cooling efficiencies are under way and should permit extension of temperature range to -60°C. Ongoing efforts are targeted at kinetic measurements of thickness changes in order to identify growth thresholds as a function of ambient conditions and nucleation mechanism.