STW grant 'Perfecting metal crystals' awarded Technology Foundation STW has awarded our ‘Perfecting Metal Crystals’, a joint effort from PIN, the University of Leiden and the company SPL.

Technology Foundation STW has awarded the “Open Technologieprogramma” proposal ‘Perfecting Metal Crystals’, a joint effort from Arie van Houselt and Harold Zandvliet (PIN group), Ludo Juurlink (University of Leiden) with Raoul van Gastel from Surface Preparation Laboratory (SPL). The grant comprises a total budget of 0.5 M€ and 2 PhD students. A novel crystal growth apparatus will be designed and build that employs electromagnetic levitation to grow metal single crystals of a superior quality and purity under ultra-high vacuum conditions. During growth the metal crystals are not in contact with a container avoiding any stress induced effect arising from the contact between the walls of the container and the crystal. The newly produced crystals will be carefully examined with a large arsenal of experimental techniques. The improved crystals can be brought directly to market through SPL's worldwide customer contacts.