SURFACE OBSERVATION OF MGO SINGLE-CRYSTAL WITH ATOMIC-FORCE MICROSCOPE AND CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC ORIENTATION DEPENDENCE OF WETTABILITY OF MGO BYLIQUID-METALS

The (100), (110) and (111) surface of MgO were observed at an atomic s cale using an atomic force microscope. It was identified that the line defects existed on each surface and that the surface structure of MgO was different from the bulk one. It can be infered that all the brigh t spots in the AFM images correspond to the positions of the oxygen at oms in the case of MgO. A factor affecting the wettability of MgO sing le crystal by liquid metals was discussed on the basis of the AFM obse rvations. It gets cleared that the interaction between the oxygen on t he surface and the magnesium or oxygen on the second layer affects the crystallographic orientation dependence of the wettability of MgO sin gle crystal by liquid metals.