New method for the production of silver halide tabular crystals

A novel method for the production of silver halide crystals with a large application for the study of the mechanisms of nucleation and growth and the physical properties of these crystals is presented. The method consists on the precipitation of silver halide crystals from silver halide complex solution in polar aprotic solvent by addition of water. Isolated crystals with various shapes and morphologies can be selectively produced with this method in the absence of any additive including gelatin. Silver bromide tabular crystals with a length to thickness ratio higher than 100 and sizes up to 1 cm were produced with this method. Studies on many important aspects of silver halide crystallization that bore great experimental difficulties in the past can be easily undertaken owing to this method. The method has been successfully applied in preliminary studies on the atomic structure of silver halide crystal surface by AFM, tabular crystal side face structure, twin plane disposition, "in situ" observation of crystal nucleation and growth, etc. Crystals obtained with this method can also be used for a direct measurement of crystal physical properties, like the ionic conductivity. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.