  Crystals in nature often demonstrate curved morphologies rather than
classical faceted surfaces. Inspired by biogenic curved single crystals, we
demonstrate that gold single crystals exhibiting curved surfaces can be grown
with no need of any fabrication steps. These single crystals grow from the
confined volume of a droplet of a eutectic composition melt which forms via the
dewetting of nanometric thin films. We can control their curvature by
controlling the environment in which the process is carried out, including
several parameters, such as the contact angle and the curvature of the drops by
changing the surface tension of the liquid drop during crystal growth. Here we
present an energetic model that explains this phenomenon and predicts why and
under what conditions crystals will be forced to grow with the curvature of the
micro droplet even though the energetic state of a curved single crystal is
very high.
