Three-dimensional reconstruction of xenon dendrites

Pattern formation in self-organizing systems is ubiquitous in nature. Theoretical predictions and model simulations have to be compared with data of experimentally grown structures to improve the understanding of pattern formation processes. Our measuremens of the thickness of dendritic fins support the validity of the analytical predictions (Brener E., Phys. Rev. Lett., 71 (1993) 3653). An image processing technique to be applied to transparent objects has been developed and three-dimensional shapes of xenon dendrites have been reconstructed from experimental data. Using the reconstructed dendrite it can be proved that 3D phase field simulations are in qualitative agreement with our experimentally grown dendrites.