Fig. 1: Evolution of the solid-liquid interface pattern, grain boundaries, and emergence of solitary cells.
From: Cell invasion during competitive growth of polycrystalline solidification patterns
The interface is seen from its liquid side during directional solidification experiments in microgravity at different times t. Grain boundaries (GBs) appear in cyan lines. The GBs have a uniform linear morphology at early time in (a). A solitary cell (SC), outlined in yellow, emerges in the orange square of b, c (also shown in Fig. 2). Red and blue arrows in c indicate the overall drift directions of the grains. Another SC (outlined in yellow) in panels (d, e) emerges at t0 + 4.0 h (f) and survives for a short time (g) before being eliminated (h). See Supplementary Movie 1 of (a–c), and 2 of (d–h).
