Rapid imaging of calcite crystal growth using atomic force microscopy with small cantilevers

Using a 26 μm cantilever with a resonant frequency of 100 kHz in water, we were able to obtain sequential images of calcite crystal steps growing from a screw dislocation. The small cantilever permitted acquisition of 250 nm images at scan rates of 104 lines/s (1.2 s/image). From this sequence we directly measured critical step lengths (the length of the shortest step that can advance) of 6–21 nm. These values provided a rough estimate of (0.25±0.13 J/m2) for the step energy per unit length per unit step height on the (104) face of calcite.