Ginzburg-Landau theory of spiral surface growth

A description of the spiral crystal growth of thin films in terms of a Ginzburg-Landau-like continuum field equation is proposed. The phase of the complex order parameter is identified with the local height of the growing surface and the absolute value represents the density of crystalline phase. This theory describes the helicoidal configuration from the growth of a screw dislocation core, as well as spontaneous nucleation of new dislocation pairs.