- Jan Czochralski
Jan Czochralski (pronounced cho-HRAL-skee) (
October 23 ,1885 -April 22 ,1953 ) was a Polish chemist who invented theCzochralski process , which is used to grow singlecrystal s and is used in the production ofsemiconductor wafers.Czochralski was born in
Kcynia , Poland. Around 1900 he moved toBerlin , where he worked at a pharmacy. He was educated at Charlottenburg Polytechnic in Berlin, where he specialized in metal chemistry. Czochralski began working as anengineer forAllgemeine Elektrizitäts Gesellschaft (AEG) in 1907.He discovered the Czochralski method in 1916, when he accidentally dipped his pen into a crucible of molten tin rather than his
inkwell . He immediately pulled his pen out to discover that a thin thread of solidified metal was hanging from thenib . The nib was replaced by a capillary, and Czochralski verified that the crystallized metal was a single crystal. The experiments of Czochralski produced single crystals that were amillimeter in diameter and up to 150 centimeters long. Czochralski published a paper on his discovery in 1918 in the Zeitschrift für Physikalische Chemie, a German chemistry journal, under the title "Ein neues Verfahren zur Messung der Kristallisationsgeschwindigkeit der Metalle" [A new method for the measurement of the crystallization rate of metals] , since the method was at that time used for measuring the crystallization rate of metals such astin ,zinc andlead . In 1950, AmericansGordon K. Teal andJ.B. Little fromBell Labs used this method to grow singlegermanium crystals, which began its use in producing suitable semiconductors.In 1917, Czochralski organized the research laboratory "Metallbank und Metallurgische Gesellschaft", which he directed until 1928. In 1919 he was one of the founding members of the German Society for Metals Science (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Metallkunde), of which he was president until 1925. In 1928, at the request of the president of Poland,
Ignacy Mościcki , he moved to Poland and became the Professor of Metallurgy and Metal Research at the Chemistry Department of theWarsaw University of Technology .During
World War II he was one of the engineers behind the development and construction of theR wz. 42 hand grenade , better known as "Sidolówka", for theArmia Krajowa . After World War II he was stripped of his professorship due to his involvement with Germany during the war, although he was later cleared of any wrongdoing by a Polishcourt . He returned to his native town of Kcynia where he ran a small cosmetics and household chemicals firm until his death in 1953.External links
* http://www.itme.edu.pl/czochralski.htm
* http://www.tf.uni-kiel.de/matwis/amat/elmat_en/kap_6/advanced/t6_1_4.html
* http://rekt.pol.lublin.pl/users/ptwk/art2.htm
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