Glittering Stones >> Single Crystal

Single crystal

A single crystal, also called mono-crystal, is a crystalline solid in which the crystal lattice of the whole sample is constant and unbroken to the edges of the sample, with no grain boundaries. The opposite of a single crystal example is a polycrystalline sample, which is made up of a number of smaller crystals known as crystallites. Because of a diversity of entropic effects on the microstructure of solids, include the distorting effects of impurities and the mobility of crystallographic faults and dislocations, single crystals of meaningful size are very rare in nature, and could also be difficult to produce in the laboratory under forbidden conditions.

Because grain boundaries could have significant effects on the physical and electrical properties of a material, solitary crystals are of interest to industry, and have significant industrial applications. The most notable of these is the use of single crystal silicon in the manufacture of semiconductors. On the quantum scale that microprocessors function on, the presence of grain boundaries might have a significant impact on the functionality of field effect transistors by altering local electrical properties. Therefore, microprocessor fabricators have invested a lot in facilities to produce large single crystals of silicon.

Uses

• Mono-crystals of silicon and other semi-conductors are important for manufacture of integrated circuits.

• Mono-crystals of sapphire and also other materials are used for lasers and nonlinear optics.

• Mono-crystals of fluorite are at times used in the object lenses of Apo chromatic refracting telescopes.

• Mono-crystals of metals, particularly super alloys, are used for their special mechanical properties. Turbine blades of little gas turbines are made of single crystal cast super alloy.