ELECTROFREEZING EFFECT AND NUCLEATION OF ICE CRYSTALS IN FREE GROWTH EXPERIMENTS

Electrofreezing is an effect where an electrostatically charged surfac e in contact with a supercooled liquid or an externally applied electr ic field significantly enhances nucleation of the solid phase. The ele ctrofreezing effect has been used as a tool to nucleate ice and heavy ice crystals in fi ee-growth experiments at supercooling greater than 1.5 degrees C. In order to nucleate ice crystals at smaller supercooli ng, we describe a device which uses a combination of a thermoelectric cooler and the electrofreezing effect. This system has been used to nu cleate crystals at a supercooling down to 0.1 degrees C, but this figu re is only limited by the temperature stability of the growth medium. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.