SURFACE OBSERVATION OF MGO SINGLE-CRYSTAL WITH ATOMIC-FORCE MICROSCOPE AND CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC ORIENTATION DEPENDENCE OF WETTABILITY OF MGO BY LIQUID-METALS

The (100), (110) and (111) surface of MgO were observed at an atomic scale using an atomic force microscope. It was identified that the line defects existed on each surface and that the surface structure of MgO was different from the bulk one. It can be infered that all the bright spots in the AFM images correspond to the positions of the oxygen atoms in the case of MgO. A factor affecting the wettability of MgO single crystal by liquid metals was discussed on the basis of the AFM observations. It gets cleared that the interaction between the oxygen on the surface and the magnesium or oxygen on the second layer affects the crystallographic orientation dependence of the wettability of MgO single crystal by liquid metals.