GRK 549:  Noncentrosymmetric Crystals

• Subject Area: Geology and Palaeontology
• Term: from 1999 to 2005
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 272853

Being amongst the most important classes of solids in modern materials science, non-centrosymmetric crystals make an exciting and fascinating topic for basic research. This is due primarily to their non-linear optical, electro-optical, photorefractive, pyroelectric, piezoelectric, optically gyrative, and other properties which do not occur in centrosymmetric solids. Anisotropy is most developed in non-centrosymmetric crystals, which significantly affects their growth and also a number of other physico-chemical processes.The long-range goals of the research program are to gain deeper insight into the crystal chemistry driving the growth of non-centrosymmetric structures; pave the way for sytematic means of designing novel non-centrosymmetric materials; improve methods to grow such crystals, with special emphasis on anisotropy and polarity (formation of domains, extreme anisotropies in growth); and to further develop experimental techniques for investigating the structure and physics of non-centrosymmetric solids.The research institutes and the teaching curricula of the University of Cologne are ideally suited to support this work and to achieve the education purposes of the research training group, i.e. to improve the quality to postgraduate studies and, through training of Ph.D. students and postdocs (the fellows of the research training group) across various fields of science, to increase the prospectives of employment for our students and postdocs in professional environments that are related to materials science. The basis of the studies program are the relevant specialized courses in physics, chemistry, and in mineralogy and crystallography.

• DFG Programme: Research Training Groups
• Applicant Institution: Universität zu Köln
• Participating Institution: Forschungszentrum Jülich
• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Ladislav Bohatý
• Participating Researchers: Professor Dr. Christoph Buchal; Professor Dr. Gerd Meyer; Professor Dr. Manfred Mühlberg; Professor Dr. Manfred Ristig; Professor Dr. Uwe Ruschewitz; Professor Dr. Dietmar Schomburg; Professor Dr. Bernd Tieke; Professor Dr. Lars Wesemann; Professor Dr. Mathias Wickleder