The growth of atomically rough 4He crystals

We have studied the growth of atomically rough bcc and hcp4He crystals from the superfluid phase for temperaturesT>0.9 K. The growth coefficient displays a temperature dependence which can be represented bym 4 K∝ $$e^{\Delta E/k_B T} $$ . The parameter ΔE is found to be in close agreement with the energy gap of rotons, suggesting that these thermal excitations dominate the growth kinetics. Besides, the absolute value of the growth coefficient depends on crystal orientation, with an anisotropy for the hcp phase of about a factor of 2.5 between the $$\left\{ {10\bar 10} \right\}$$ and {0001} planes.