Convective mitigation of dendrite growth

The growth of metallic dendrites during the electrodeposition and solidification of metal films is a challenging scientific and industrial problem. To date, studies show conflicting evidence as to whether the introduction of flow into such systems prevents dendritic growth. We isolate the contribution of flow to dendritic growth by considering a far-from-equilibrium limit of both electrodeposition and solidification processes. This limit does not support any other stabilizing mechanisms, such as surface tension and the Gibbs-Thomson effect, making it a worst-case scenario. We give a physical model and employ the perspective of kinetic stability to show that ion convection is unequivocally preferable for the mitigation of dendrites compared to the transport of ions solely by diffusion. Convective flow disperses ion concentration gradients near dendrites, thereby inhibiting the auto-catalytic action diffusion has on dendrite growth. The mitigation effect is more effective at higher surface roughness, or equivalently, at more densely packed dendritic hotspots. We conclude by providing a design strategy for convective deposition systems.