TEACHING CRYSTAL GROWTH AS EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY IN CRYSTALLOGRAPHY

Nikolai Leonyuk

Moscow State University, Geological Fac., Dept. of Crystallography, Moscow 119899, Russia leon@geol.msu.ru

Keywords: Teaching, Education, Crystallography, Crystal Growth

The crystal growth is taught in many Universities, and the course scope mostly depends on the profile of the department and/or college. Traditionally, it is mostly a fragmentary and applied tool of interest to materials scientists, solid-state physicists and chemists, inorganic and physical chemists, electrical engineers, gemmologists and mineralogists. Here, the main attention is focused on both fundamentals and laboratory components of the new long-term crystal growth course as an example of a self-consistent curriculum containing lectures, seminars, laboratory practices and research work. The subject has evolved during the last two decades, and it has combined the educational and research experience of the author of this course in the field of crystal growth, crystal morphology and characterization of materials at Moscow State University in collaboration with other Universities, research institutions and the industry.

As a rule, current course topics are as follows: (1) Nucleation, structurally attributed shape and equilibrium shape of ideal crystals; (2) Growth mechanisms of perfect crystals; (3) Growth of real crystals; (4) Transport processes and morphological stability; (4) Crystal growth in Earth's interior; (5) Crystal growth methods; (6) Experimental equipment; (7) Growth of technological single crystals. The lectures are a general overview of this course, but may include specific examples that are not given in textbooks and periodic issues. The associated laboratories are intended to demonstrate the crystal growth technique, to perform simple experiments and related procedures on the crystal growth of modeling materials which can be done easily and safely by students. This kind of experience proves to be of great practical value. The seminars and recitations contribute many important details for the course and can help to make some models of crystal growth more concrete.

The crystal growth course is given after two academic years of University's education, i.e. since the beginning of the 5th semester. By that time, the students who intend to major in crystallography and related disciplines have some knowledge of the most general physical laws and phenomena, chemical processes, and they could take some mathematics courses. There are no absolute prerequisites for the crystal growth course, but students should be reasonably far on with an introduction to courses like physics and chemistry of condensed state, crystallography and crystal chemistry, some thermodynamics knowledge, etc.

In addition to lectures and laboratories, knowledge for the crystal growth course is gained from the textbooks, 1-2 seminars, 1-2 recitation sessions, home assignments for each semester. Also, during the semester the plan suggests one midterm exam and the Final Exam. Within each year, all the students who intend to major in crystal growth should perform and defend publicly their research projects. A selection of the project topics is given with the students' preferences taken into account. Students may work on their first projects in research laboratories during the 5^th and 6^th semesters. The defense deadline is at the end of spring. For carrying through the second and third projects, all the students may take the opportunity of nine-week "extra"-work in Universities' research laboratories, academic institutions or industry during summer periods after 6th and 8th semesters, respectively. Additionally, the 10th spring semester is reserved for completing the third research project, and the 6th academic year (the 11th and 12th semesters) is reserved to perform their fourth research projects. The second, third and fourth research works should also be defended at the end of spring semester. The second and third research projects set up bases for the final grade for the Bachelor and University Degrees (UD), respectively. And finally, the fourth research project is directed towards obtaining the M.Sc. degree. The B.Sc., UD and M.Sc. specialists can be invited to work in the field of crystal growth and characterization of materials at Universities, academic institutions and industry. Most outstanding UD and M.Sc. specialists are welcome to take entrance examinations and to begin their work towards the Ph.D. degree.

This self-consistent course is primarily aimed at the students who intend to major in crystallography as an interdisciplinary field of science. However, the logic of teaching allows interdisciplinary students and engineers to attend this course at any stage for one semester or more, when that need arises. For example, Physics, Chemistry, Materials Science, Mineralogy or Engineering students are welcome to make use of this material in one form or another, as an applied tool to gain knowledge and practical experience concerned with obtaining certain of crystalline materials for their measurements. Strong interaction and integration of University Education Program, Academy of Sciences' Institutions and Industry seem to be one of the keys to training effective researchers and engineers for the future.