Figure 3: Micelle height trajectories and schematic of micelle incorporation.

(a) Plot showing changes in heights of individual large micelles relative to crystal face versus absolute height of the growing crystal face. (Crystal face growth (nm)=0 marks time when each micelle is first imaged and end point of each trajectory marks last micelle image before complete incorporation.) Errors in height caused by tip compression of the micelles under these conditions were <3 nm for the largest micelles and <0.5 nm for the smallest at crystal face growth=0, leading to maximum errors in slope of 8–11 %. (b) Schematic diagram illustrating the incorporation of the large micelles. A micelle adsorbs to a step as an ellipsoid (stage 1) and contracts vertically, while it is compressed laterally (stage 2) as the calcite face advances. A gap then begins to form around the micelle periphery (stage 3). Successive steps do not advance beyond this gap, creating a cavity. As growth continues, the gap develops into a cylindrical channel (stage 4), whose width decreases (stage 5) until it closes to form an internal cavity (stage 6). (c) Plot of height changes for small micelles determined as in a showing shallower slopes than for large micelles, including slopes > −1 (for example, A–D). (d) Schematic representation showing that the incorporation process of small micelles is similar to that of large micelles, except that micelles elongate vertically between stages 2 and 3 and channel lengths is much smaller. Face growth rate=0.033 nm s⁻¹ (σ=1.49).