Science and Practices of Crystal Growth

Credits: 3

Instructors: Dr. Sankar Raman

Class hour: Tuesday 14:10-17:00

Classroom: P101 Meeting Room, IF of Institute of Physics, AS

Introduction:

Crystals are of fundamental importance to the understanding of physics and chemistry of materials. This course will introduce the basic science behind making crystalline materials and the characterization of such materials. Lectures will cover phase diagram, crystal growth mechanisms, crystal growth techniques and equipment, and their merits and limitations. Basic characterization for crystals such as X-ray diffraction will be covered. Accompanying the lectures are unique opportunities for students to fabricate crystals in laboratory sessions. Practical laboratories include solid state synthesis, solution phase crystal growth, chemical vapor transport or deposition, seeding and flux growth, flux growth, and optical floating zone growth will be covered. Specialists will be invited to give lectures on selected topics.

Main textbook:

Handbook of crystal growth (vol 2), bulk crystal growth, ISBN: 9780444633033
Field Guide to Crystal Growth, Ashok K. Batra, Mohan D. Aggarwal https://doi.org/10.1117/3.2309590
Chemistry of the elements/N. N. Greenwood and A. E. Shaw, ISBN: 0750633654
(the above books are available at NTU library)

Topic

Introduction to crystals

Ideal crystals and real crystals, and growth mechanisms

Binary phase diagrams and phase rules (I)

Binary phase diagrams, melting and crystallization (I)

Crystal growth method and equipment (I): solution growth (Lecture and Lab)

Crystal growth method and equipment (II-a): solid state synthesis (Lecture and Lab)

Crystal growth method and equipment (II-b): X-ray powder diffraction (Lecture and Lab)

Overview of other crystal growth methods and equipment

Midterm exam

Lab: crystal growth by chemical vapor transport, flux growth, and floating zone (lab rotation shift #1)

Lab: crystal growth by chemical vapor transport, flux growth, and floating zone (lab rotation shift #2)

Lab: crystal growth by chemical vapor transport, flux growth, and floating zone (lab rotation shift #3)

Lab: single crystal examination: Laue X-ray diffraction and optical microscopy

Merits and limitations of various crystal growth methods

Selected methods for further crystal characterization (I)

Selected methods for further crystal characterization (II) U+A1V results from the crystals grown in lab sessions

Final semester week: StudentsU+A1U+A6 report submission