OSTWALD RIPENING OF 2-DIMENSIONAL CRYSTALS AT THE SOLID-LIQUID INTERFACE

Scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) was used to follow Ostwald ripeni ng, i.e. coarsening in two-dimensional molecular polycrystals directly on the molecular scale and in real time. For alkylated anthraquinone and oligothiophene different coarsening velocities have been found, an d a two-dimensional reaction-controlled mechanism is proposed. Ostwald ripening is regarded as an intrinsic phenomenon of two-dimensional cr ystals at the solid-liquid interface,