Crystal Growth

This article is an invited contribution to the Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology, Robert A. Meyers, ed., Academic Press, publisher, a compendium of university and professional level physical science and engineering. The article introduces the subject of crystal growth, outlines several standard crystal growth approaches including Bridgeman, Czochralski and flux growth. Approaches to the growth of crystalline thin films, including MBE, CVD and sputtering, are also outlined. Finally, the article includes a discussion of heat transfer and mass transport issues and well as a brief discussion of crystal growth theory.