Fig. 3: Growth dynamics of ice nanocrystal polymorphs.

a Time-series images of five representative ice I_c nanocrystals, labeled P1 through P5, exhibiting limited growth (Scale bars = 50 nm) and b changes in their areas. c A continuously-growing ice I_c+h nanocrystal with planar defects and d the change in its area (empty circles) and lengths (solid circles) along the growth directions of basal and prismatic planes. e Changes in area plotted over time for 64 ice I_c (orange) and ice I_c+h (dark blue) nanocrystals. Growth rates over time for ice I_c (f) and ice I_c+h (g). Histogram of aspect ratios (AR) summed over time for ice I_c (h), and ice I_c+h (i). j Cross-section images of ice growth simulation from spherical seeds of ice I_c (first column), ice I_h (second column), and ice I_c+h (third column) calculated for 200 ns at a temperature of 230 K. The first and second rows display top view images along the [111] or basal axis and side view images perpendicular to the axes, respectively. Oxygen atoms in water molecules are represented by the following: cubic structure in orange, hexagonal structure in dark blue, and other water molecules as gray spheres. The initial position of ice seed with 5 nm diameter is marked by a yellow dashed line. The arrows indicate the direction of growth. Scale bar = 2 nm. k Temporal tracking of ice plane positions for ice I_c (yellow), ice I_h (green), and ice I_c+h (dark blue).