The present work describes the development of an environmental chamber (EC), with temperature and humidity control, for measuring ice growth kinetics over a substrate with an atomic force microscope (AFM). The main component of the EC is an AFM fluid glass cell. The relative humidity (RH) inside the EC is set by the flow of a controlled ratio of dry and humid nitrogen gases. The sample temperature is fixed with an AFM commercial accessory, while the temperature of the nitrogen gas inside the EC is controlled by circulating cold nitrogen vapor through a copper cooler, specially designed for this purpose. With this setup, we could study the growth rate of ice crystallization over a mica substrate by measuring the force exerted between the tip and the sample when they approach each other as a function of time. This experimental development represents a significant improvement with respect to previous experimental determinations of ice growth rates, where RH and temperature of the air above the sample were determined far away from the ice crystallization regions, in opposition to the present work.

中文翻译：

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通过原子力显微镜进行冰结晶动力学测量的具有受控温度和相对湿度的环境室

目前的工作描述了具有温度和湿度控制的环境室 (EC) 的开发，用于使用原子力显微镜 (AFM) 测量基板上的冰生长动力学。EC 的主要组件是 AFM 流体玻璃池。EC 内的相对湿度 (RH) 由受控的干湿氮气流量设定。样品温度由 AFM 商业附件固定，而 EC 内的氮气温度通过循环冷氮蒸汽通过专门为此目的设计的铜冷却器来控制。通过这种设置，我们可以通过测量尖端和样品之间施加的力作为时间的函数来研究冰晶在云母基板上的生长速率。