1 The Development of Crystal Growth Technology

The industrial production of crystals started with A. Verneuil with his flame-fusion growth method 1902. He can be regarded as the father of crystal growth technology as his principles of nucleation control and crystal-diameter con-trol are adapted in most later growth methods from the melt, like Tammann, Stöber, Bridgman, Czochralski, Kyropoulos, Stockbarger, etc. The important crystal pulling from melts named after Czochralski was effectively developed by Teal, Little and Dash. The multi-disciplinary nature of technology of crystal and epilayer fabrication, the complex multi-parameter processes – where ten or more growth parame-ters have to be compromised and optimized, and also the scaling problem have impeded the scientific development of this important area. Only recently has the numerical simulation of Czochralski melts started to become useful for growth technologists, the deep understanding of the striation problem allowed the experi-mental conditions to grow striation-free crystals to be established, and the contro