EPITAXIAL OVERGROWTH OF LIKSO4 ON BETA-K2SO4 SINGLE-CRYSTALS

Nucleation of LiKSO4 (LKS) crystals from non-equimolar solutions may o ccur epitaxially on the surface of previously nucleated beta-K2SO4 (KS ) crystals. Both compounds evince a profound hexagonal substructure, a nd have common topological features and similar coordination schemes. Moreover, they may be related by quantitative similarities between the ir translation parameters and by correspondence between their bond cha ins along the directions of epitaxy. The planes of epitaxy are (001)(K S) and (0001)(LKS), and on these planes [010](KS) is always parallel t o [010](LKS), with a misfit of 12.19%. Another pair of directions, [1( 1) over bar0$](KS) and [100](LKS), showing a small angular misfit (0.1 8 degrees), exhibit an even lower linear misfit (3.09%).