The bulk morphology and surface features that developed upon
precipitation on micrometer-size calcite powders and millimeter-size
cleavage fragments were imaged by three different microscopic techniques:
field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission
electron microscopy (TEM) of Pt-C replicas, and atomic force microscopy
(AFM). Each technique can resolve some nanoscale surface features, but
they offer different ranges of magnification and dimensional resolutions.
Because sample preparation and imaging is not constrained by crystal
orientation, FE-SEM and TEM of Pt-C replicas are best suited to image the
overall morphology of microcrystals. However, owing to the decoration
effect of Pt-C on the crystal faces, TEM of Pt-C replicas is superior at
resolving nanoscale surface structures, including the development of new
faces and the different microtopography among nonequivalent faces in
microcrystals, which cannot be revealed by FE-SEM. In conjunction with
SEM, Pt-C replica provides the evidence that crystals grow in diverse and
face-specific modes. The TEM imaging of Pt-C replicas has nanoscale
resolution comparable to AFM. AFM yielded quantitative information (e.g.,
crystallographic orientation and height of steps) of microtopographic
features. In contrast to Pt-C replicas and SEM providing three-dimensional
images of the crystals, AFM can only image one individual cleavage or flat
surface at a time.