Influence of Surface Charge and Surface Structure on the Sublimation of Ionic Crystals

The formation of charged defects in ionic crystals is shown to be accompanied by the formation of surface defects: kinks. The resultant defect pairs contribute to a Debye-Hückel charge distribution at the surface. Surface charge, surface structure, and crystal defect equilibria are found to be interrelated and to influence sublimation rates. The theory is applied to the case of sublimation of II-VI compounds and compared with experiments.