The effect of interfacial energy anisotropy on planar interface instability in a succinonitrile alloy under a small temperature gradient

The morphological stability of a planar interface with different crystallographic orientations is studied under a small positive temperature gradient using a transparent model alloy of succinonitrile. Novel experimental apparatus is constructed to provide a temperature gradient of about 0.37 K/mm. Under this small temperature gradient, the planar interface instability depends largely on the crystallographic orientation. It is shown experimentally that the effect of interfacial energy anisotropy on planar interface stability cannot be neglected even in a small temperature gradient system. Higher interfacial energy anisotropy leads the planar interface to become more unstable, which is different from the stabilizing effect of the interfacial energy on the planar interface. The experimental results are in agreement with previous theoretical calculations and phase field simulations.