Crystals
Growth, Morphology, & Perfection

A readable and informative overview of the science of crystal growth for advanced students and researchers.

Ichiro Sunagawa (Author)

9780521714792, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 13 August 2007

308 pages, 180 b/w illus.
24.2 x 16.7 x 1.5 cm, 0.495 kg

"In this reviewer's opinion, this is the comst comprehensive book currently available on crystal growth and morphology." --Gems and Gemology

How do crystals nucleate and grow? Why and how do crystals form such a wide variety of morphologies, from polyhedral to dendritic and spherulitic forms? These are questions that have been posed since the seventeenth century, and are still of vital importance today both for modern technology, and to understand the Earth's interior and the formation of minerals by living organisms. In this book, Ichiro Sunagawa sets out clearly the atomic processes behind crystal growth, and describes case studies of complex systems from diamond, calcite and pyrite, to crystals formed through biomineralization, such as the aragonite of shells, and apatite of teeth. Essential reading for advanced graduates and researchers in mineralogy and materials science.

Foreword to the English translation
Preface
Part I. Fundamental Concepts: 1. Introduction
2. Crystal forms
3. Crystal growth
4. Factors determining the morphology of polyhedral crystals
5. Surface microtopography of crystal faces
6. Perfection and homogeneity of single crystals
7. Regular intergrowth of crystals
8. Forms and textures of polycrystalline aggregates
Part II. Application to Complicated and Complex Systems (Case Studies): 9. Diamond
10. Rock-crystal (quartz)
11. Pyrite and calcite
12. Minerals formed by vapour growth
13. Crystals formed by metasomatism and metamorphism
14. Crystals formed through biological activity
Appendixes
Materials index
Subject index.

Subject Areas: Materials science [TGM], Geochemistry [RBGK], Petrology [RBGG], Mineralogy & gems [PNV]