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Book Reviews Kinetic Processes: Crystal Growth, Diffusion, and Phase Transitions in Materials. Kenneth A. Jackson, Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH, 2004. ISBN 3-52730694-3. $135.
This book is a very stimulating and satisfying read. It is based on a course given by the author to graduate students in the Materials Science Department at the University of Arizona. The course drew on an earlier lecture series given by the author when he was at Bell Labs. The selection of topics is somewhat eclectic (the author admits to it having a highly personal flavor). It is in large part a distillation of his achievements and of understanding acquired in a very distinguished and long career in the field of materials processing and, in particular, of crystal growth phenomena. Phase transformations and transport processes are considered predominantly from an atomic level viewpoint, and thermodynamics and rate theory are used to give clear and profound insights into numerous phenomena underlying a whole range of modern techniques employed in materials processing. The level of treatment of the fundamentals of the subject is aimed to be appropriate for practitioners of materials processing. It is also aimed at the post-graduate student with problem sets and key references given at the end of each chapter. Jackson’s outstanding achievement in this book is the clarity with which he uses simple analytical treatments to reveal the physical phenomena that control the underlying atomic processes. This clarity is aided by some 282 figures, most of which are simple diagrams that illustrate the mathematical results obtained in the text. The style of writing is pleasingly informal but nonetheless precise. Key conclusions are frequently boldly stated in very short sentences at the end of a section, which gives the reader the warm feeling that (s)he had already just reached that conclusion too! Following a brief introductory chapter that addresses the relationship between thermodynamics and kinetics and explores the concept of “temperature”, the next seven chapters are devoted to diffusion in fluids, amorphous materials, crystals, and semiconductors (including ion implantation into them), ending with chapters on the mathematics of diffusion and of Stefan problems. The discussions of diffusion in ionic crystals, surface diffusion, and electromigration are particularly insightful. The role of diffusion in a number of commercial processes and in particular those in semiconductor device processing is clearly revealed. I have two small criticisms. The concept of Fermi energy could have been more fully explained. Also the ideas about zinc diffusion in GaAs betray the age of some of the lecture notes from which, I presume, they are derived; “kick-out” (now believed to be the controlling mechanism of zinc diffusion whereby Ga interstitials are formed) is not described. The chapter on the mathematics of diffusion devotes 21 pages to the derivation of the diffusion equation in different coordinate frames. Given the limited extent to which these results are used in other chapters, it could have been somewhat shorter.
Chapters 9-12 concern an introduction to phase transformations and crystal growth in particular. The principal techniques of crystal growth are briefly described, but chemical vapor transport is not included. The description of the dynamics of Czochralski growth is dated; it does not explain the role of the meniscus in the dynamics of the process. Segregation and the Scheil and Burton, Prim and Slichter equations are derived along with the Mullins-Sekerka theory of morphological instability. The relatively short chapter 13 provides an introduction to chemical reaction rate theory. Chapter 14 is an introduction to first- and second-order phase equilibria, and there follows a long chapter on homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation. The relevance of this topic in a range of phenomena such as cavitation, cloud seeding, and grain refinement are described. Chapter 16 is on surface adsorption and nucleation and paves the way for later chapters on thin film deposition and epitaxy from the liquid, chemical vapors, and plasmas. There is also a short chapter on rapid thermal processing as used to anneal ion-implanted semiconductor device structures. The final nine chapters are largely devoted to more advanced aspects of crystal growth and alloy solidification. Chapter 20 covers the kinetics of crystal growth from the melt and from the vapor and introduces the use of molecular dynamics simulation. It is shown how the fluctuation dissipation theorem can be used to determine the kinetic coefficient for growth at a “rough” interface. Following from this, the next chapter is devoted to the surface roughening transition, which is illustrated with Monte Carlo simulations. The following three chapters deal with alloy phase equilibria and solidification kinetics (chapter 22), phase separation by spinodal decomposition (chapter 23), and solute trapping (chapter 24). Chapter 25 deals with coarsening and ripening in a variety of situationssparticles, dendritic arrays, sintering, bubbles, and grain boundaries. Chapter 26 describes the kinetics of the growth of an isolated dendrite. Chapter 27 classifies binary eutectics in terms of the number of phases that solidify with a faceted interface and then reproduces the classic Hunt and Jackson theory of the solidification of a nonfaceted binary eutectic. Monotectic and peritectic reactions are not considered. The final chapter deals too briefly with metal castings. I have a few minor niggles. It appears that, in a few places, the original order of the material has been changed with the result that some of the symbols are not defined at the point at which they are first used. Some of the figure captions are too terse, and, in a few cases, not all of the symbols on a figure are defined. The printer/publisher must take responsibility for the fact that the wording beneath the axis of several of the graphs printed at the bottom of a page appears to have been partly or completely cut off. In one case, the text of a caption is incorrectly laid out, in another case it is incomplete, and in a third case the figure is not referred to in the text and its caption bears no relation to the
10.1021/cg058006t CCC: $30.25 © 2005 American Chemical Society Published on Web 04/14/2005
Cryst. Growth Des. 2005, 5, 1305
figure itself. One expects more rigorous standards from a publisher having the status and tradition of Wiley. On the other hand, the text is commendably free of typographical errors except for the problem of the undefined symbols. The book is comprehensively indexed. In fact, it has the (to me) novel feature of having two subject indices: one in which entries are designated by the pages on which they appear and the other by the chapter subsections. The brief title of the book may misled some people. “Kinetic Processes” will conjure up in the minds of many the topics of chemical reaction rate theory and the theory of gases from the discipline of physical chemistry. Only by reading the subtitle will the very different content of this book become apparent. Would a single title “Kinetic Processes in Diffusion, Crystal Growth and Related Phase Transitions” have been too long?
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In his preface, the author opines that “crystal growth...is a wonderfully complex process with still much to be learned.” This book illuminates both the wonder and the complexity with great clarity. As claimed in the preface, it brings together in a coherent form, material that has hitherto been available only as widely dispersed material in the published literature. I strongly commend this book to all crystal growers and those who research crystal growth processes. Whatever your background and experience, I guarantee that it will provide you with many valuable new insights as it has this reviewer.
10.1021/cg058006t CCC: $30.25 © 2005 American Chemical Society Published on Web 04/14/2005
D. T. J. Hurle University of Bristol CG058006T 10.1021/cg058006t
