International Summer School on Crystal Growth and Photovoltaic Materials

The International Summer School on Crystal Growth and Photovoltaic Materials took place in Brasov between August 27th and September 1st, 2012 under auspices and sponsorship of International Union of Crystallography (IUCr).

The objective of the school was to provide a comprehensive series of lectures on theoretical and experimental aspects of growth and characterization of semiconducting, oxide, metallic, organic, biological crystals and PV devices and equipment. All participants received a textbook and CD based on the lectures presented during the Summer School.

A comprehensive series of lectures provided an overview of traditional crystal growth as well as emerging technologies and photovoltaic materials:

Roberto FORNARI (Director of Leibniz Institute for Crystal Growth (IKZ), Germany and President Intern. Org. for Crystal Growth) "Fundamentals of crystal growth from the melt";
Thomas KUECH (University of Wisconsin - Madison WI, USA and Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Crystal Growth) "Some Fundamentals of Epitaxy" and "Preparation and efficiency of multi-junction solar cells";
Joseph GREENE (University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, USA and Editor-in-Chief, Thin Solid Film) "Nucleation and Growth of Self-assembled Nanostructures: (the materials science of small things)";
Martin GREEN (ARC Photovoltaics Centre of Excellence, School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, AUSTRALIA and Editor-in-Chief, Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications) "State of art and future developments of photovoltaics";
Kevin ROBERTS (Department of Chemical Engineering at University of Leeds) "From Modeling the Morphology of Crystals to the Design of Precision Pharmaceutical Processes & Products";
Thierry DUFFAR (Grenoble Institute of Technology, France) "Capillarity aspects of bulk crystal growth";
Tatau NISHINAGA (Professor Emeritus, University of Tokyo, Japan) "Inter-surface diffusion and its application to morphology control";
Detlef KLIMM (KZ, Berlin, Germany and Member of IUCr Commission on crystal growth) "Thermodynamics and phase diagrams. Analysis. Segregation phenomena";
Jochen FRIEDRICH (Fraunhofer IISB, Department Crystal Growth, Germany and President of DGKK) "Crystals for Low Carbon Energy Technologies";
Georg MULLER (Abteilung Kristallzüchtung, Fraunhofer Inst IISB, Germany) "Growth of Silicon for Photovoltaics by Directional Solidification";
Koichi KAKIMOTO (Research Institute for Applied Mechanics, Kyushu University, JAPAN and General Secretary Intern Org. for Crystal Growth) "Steps of material science towards PV in Japan";
Peter RUDOLPH (Crystal Technology Consulting (CTC), Schoenefeld, Germany, Executive Committee of IOCG, Vice-President of DGKK and Ass. Editor of J. Crystal Growth) "Defect dynamics at crystal growth (from melt)";
Wolfram MILLER (Leibniz Institute for Crystal Growth (IKZ), Berlin, Germany and Editor of Journal of DGKK) "Growth kinetics, interface instabilities and numerical simulations;
Matthias BICKERMANN (Leibniz Institute for Crystal Growth (IKZ) Berlin, Germany) "Sublimation growth of wide band gap materials";
Daniel VIZMAN (West University of Timisoara, Romania) "Melt flow control in crystal growth using magnetic fields";
Horia V. ALEXANDRU (Bucharest University, ROMANIA and President ROMS-CGS) "Purification and kinetics in solution growth";
Stefan ANTOHE (Dean of the Faculty of Physics, University of Bucharest, ROMANIA) "Organic Thin Films, Polymer/Fullerene Bulk Hetorojunction&Organic /Inorganic Hybrid Structures for Photovoltaic Applications";
Alain IBANEZ (Director of Department of Materials, Institut Néel, CNRS and Univ. J. Fourier, Grenoble, France) "Different routes to prepare nanocrystals from solutions";
John PRESTON (McMaster University, Ontario, Canada) "Epitaxial Nanowire Development for Solar Cell Applications";
Sefik SUZER (Deptartment of Chemistry, Bilkent University, Turkey and Editor of Applied Surface Science) "Use of XPS for Probing Photo-Voltage and Photoconductiivy of Photoactive Materials";
Hanna DABKOWSKA (McMaster Univ, Hamilton, Canada; International Union of Crystallography) "Optical floating zone as a versatile method to grow crystals of magnetic oxides";
Jeffrey DERBY (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, U.S.A.) "Fluid mechanics and crystal growth";
Christiane FRANK-ROTSCH (Head of Department Gallium Arsenide, Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung, Berlin, Germany) "Enhancement of semiconductor single crystal growth process by using ultrasonic and magnetic fields".

The International Summer School on Crystal Growth and Photovoltaic Materials received 47 applications from all around the world. Finally, 36 graduate and undergraduate students, postdocs and representatives from industrial laboratories attended the summer school. Participants came from Germany - 4, Ukraine - 1, France - 1, Italy - 1, Latvia - 1, Uruguay - 1, Switzerland - 1, Austria - 1, Hungary - 1, Netherlands - 1, Spain - 1, USA - 1 and Romania - 21.

Bogdan BARVINSCHI Romania
Mihai BURDUSEL Romania
Diana CIRSTEA Romania
Elena CHITANU Romania
Sebastian DUMITRICA Romania
Jon FEENSTRA Netherlands
Camelia FLORICA Romania
Evgeny GALENIN Ukraine
Benjamin GALLIEN France
Vadims GEZA Latvia
Nicoleta GHEORGHE Romania
Alexander GLACKI Germany
Sorina IFTIMIE Romania
Krzysztof KACHEL Germany
Stefan KOESTNER Austria
Frank LANGHANS Germany
Lucia LEONAT Romania
Marcela MIHAI Romania
Marco Negri Italy
Radu Andrei Negrila Romania
German Olivera USA
María Eugenia Pérez Uruguay
Alexandra Popescu Romania
Cornelia-Magda PUSCASU Romania
Vasile PUPÄââ‚¬šZAN Romania
Adrian RADU Romania
Corina RADU Romania
Muhammad Azam RASOOL Spain
Gabriela SBARCEA Romania
Matei STELIAN Romania
Maria STOICANESCU Romania
Adrien STUCKY Switzerland
Éva TICHY-RÁCS Hungary
Cosmin TATU Romania
Georgeta VELCIU Romania
Radoslaw ZWIERZ Germany

The feedback received from lecturers and students was mainly extremely positive. Especially the high quality lectures presented during the summer school were appreciated. The participants found the School beneficial both in professional terms as well as in creating new contacts and social interaction with colleagues.

Based on the IUCr sponsorship, the Organizing Committee offered "Travel Grants" (partial travel support) for students attending the "International Summer School on Crystal Growth and Photovoltaic Materials". The grants were provided to graduate students, post-graduate students or post-doctoral fellows with a maximum age of 35, who were regularly registered. For the travel grant we received 8 applications. In the case of Romanian participants we received funds for travel and accommodation from Executive Unit for Financing Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation (UEFISCDI), Romania.