https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-025-06987-6
Regular Article
Temporal dynamics of crystallization initiated by single laser pulse irradiation
1
Department of Physics, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, 31261, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
2
Interdisciplinary Research Center of Membranes and Water Security, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, 31261, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
3
Ultrafast Laser Spectroscopy Lab, Center for Integrative Petroleum Research, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, 31261, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
4
Interdisciplinary Research Center for Intelligent Manufacturing and Robotics, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, 31261, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
Received:
13
June
2025
Accepted:
23
October
2025
Published online:
3
November
2025
In this study, single-shot laser-induced crystallization was employed to trigger nucleation and accelerate crystal growth in supersaturated KNO3 solutions. Time-resolved observations of crystallization, initiated by 7-ns, 532-nm laser pulses at peak power densities of 85.7–107 GW cm−2, are presented. A theoretical framework for single-pulse nucleation and early crystal growth in metastable solutions is also developed to interpret the observed dynamics. Post-growth analysis of harvested crystals was performed to monitor the evolution of crystal size, morphology, and size distribution over time scales ranging from seconds to a few minutes. This short timescale, relative to spontaneous crystallization, allows for single-shot crystallization studies that are unaffected by spontaneous nucleation. Average crystal dimensions were found to increase linearly with laser power density, with longitudinal growth rates exceeding lateral growth, which resulted in the production of needle-like crystals. Smaller, slower-growing crystals were produced by lower-intensity pulse irradiation. Longitudinal growth rates were observed to rise linearly with solution concentration, while lateral growth peaked at S = 1.2 and declined at S = 1.3, indicating the dominance of longitudinal growth at higher concentrations nearing the threshold for spontaneous crystallization initiation. Crystal size distributions were narrow and well-described by Gaussian fits, suggesting temporally synchronized nucleation and a uniform growth environment.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
