Using the latest electron microscope, research groups such as the University of Tokyo have succeeded in capturing a rare image of the moment when salt crystals are formed at the atomic level.
Crystals are solids with atoms arranged regularly, and it is known that salts and sugar also form crystals, but the moment when crystals are formed has never been observed at the atomic level.
Research groups such as Professor Eiichi Nakamura of the University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Science observed carbon nanotubes immersed in saline solution in vacuum with the latest electron microscope that can shoot moving images at the atomic level.
When crystallization is promoted by a slight vibration, atoms of sodium and chlorine of salt begin to appear to gather and emerge near the tip of the carbon nanotube, and in about 5 seconds, a crystal called a crystal nucleus appears to start. I succeeded in shooting.
This crystal nuclei seems to have about 100 atoms arranged regularly, and the shape of the crystal nuclei was quadrangular no matter how many times it was repeated.
Even if the salt crystals grow large, they have the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped based on a quadrangle, and Professor Nakamura said, "It was interesting to confirm that the salt crystals have the same shape from the moment they are formed. I would love to see the first appearance of crystals formed with other substances. "