Crystal Growth and Nonlinear Optics

Crystal Growth and Nonlinear OpticsCHAPTER 1INTRODUCTION TO CRYSTAL GROWTH AND NONLINEAR OPTICS1.1 INTRODUCTIONCrystal growth is regarded as an ancient subject, owing to the fact that the crystallization of salt and sugar were known to the ancient Indian and Chinese civilizations. The subject of crystal growth was treated as part of crystallography and never had an independent identity until the last century. It has a long history of evolution from “a substance potting art” to a science in its own right which has accelerated by the invention of transistor in 1948, and the subsequent need for high purity semiconductor single crystals.Crystals are the unacknowledged pillars of modern technology. The fundamentals of crystal growth was entirely bestowed upon the morphological studies of the naturally occurring crystals. Thus began the scientific approach for this subject during the seventeenth century by Kepler, followed by quite a few others like Nicolous Steno, Descartes, Bartholinus, etc.