Increased stability in crystal growth kinetics in response to bulk transport enhancement

High-resolution interferometry on facets of lysozyme crystals growing under steady external conditions revealed intrinsic kinetics instabilities that occur as fluctuations in the spacing of growth steps. The amplitude of these fluctuations is reduced by forced solution flow. This increased stability is interpreted in terms of the ratio of the characteristic rates of lattice incorporation and bulk transport. Apparently a steady state is approached as an asymptote of a continuous family of unsteady states.