Jan Czochralski
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Jan Czochralski (; 23 October 1885 – 22 April 1953) was a Polish chemist who invented the Czochralski method, which is used for growing
single crystal In materials science, a single crystal (or single-crystal solid or monocrystalline solid) is a material in which the crystal lattice of the entire sample is continuous and unbroken to the edges of the sample, with no Grain boundary, grain bound ...
s and in the production of semiconductor wafers. It is still used in over 90 percent of all electronics in the world that use semiconductors. He is the most cited Polish scholar. There is evidence that Czochralski sheltered two Jewish women in his home until the
Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...
to save them from the Germans and some evidence that he was instrumental in financially helping a previously owned Jewish business in the ghetto.


Life and career

Czochralski was born in what was then Exin in the
Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
n
Province of Posen The Province of Posen (; ) was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1848 to 1920, occupying most of the historical Greater Poland. The province was established following the Greater Poland Uprising (1848), Poznań Uprisi ...
,
German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...
(now Kcynia, Poland). Around 1900 he moved to
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, where he worked at a
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. He was educated at the
Technische Hochschule A ''Technische Hochschule'' (, plural: ''Technische Hochschulen'', abbreviated ''TH'') is a type of university focusing on engineering sciences in Germany. Previously, it also existed in Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands (), and Finland (, ) ...
in
Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...
(today
Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin; also known as Berlin Institute of Technology and Technical University of Berlin, although officially the name should not be translated) is a public university, public research university located in Berlin, Germany. It was the first ...
), where he specialized in metal chemistry. Czochralski began working as an
engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...
for Allgemeine Elektrizitäts Gesellschaft (AEG) in 1907. He discovered the Czochralski method in 1916, when he accidentally dipped his pen into a crucible of molten tin rather than his
inkwell An inkwell is a small jar or container, often made of glass, porcelain, silver, brass, or pewter, used for holding ink in a place convenient for the person who is writing. The artist or writer dips the brush, quill, or dip pen into the inkwell ...
. He immediately pulled his pen out to discover that a thin thread of solidified metal was hanging from the nib. The nib was replaced by a capillary, and Czochralski verified that the crystallized metal was a
single crystal In materials science, a single crystal (or single-crystal solid or monocrystalline solid) is a material in which the crystal lattice of the entire sample is continuous and unbroken to the edges of the sample, with no Grain boundary, grain bound ...
. Czochralski's experiments produced single crystals a millimeter in diameter and up to 150 centimeters long. He published a paper on his discovery in 1918 in the
Zeitschrift für Physikalische Chemie A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...
, a German chemistry journal, under the title "Ein neues Verfahren zur Messung der Kristallisationsgeschwindigkeit der Metalle" new method for the measurement of the crystallization rate of metals since the method was at that time used for measuring the crystallization rate of metals such as tin,
zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...
and
lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...
. In 1948, Americans Gordon K. Teal and J.B. Little from
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would use the method to grow single
germanium Germanium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ge and atomic number 32. It is lustrous, hard-brittle, grayish-white and similar in appearance to silicon. It is a metalloid or a nonmetal in the carbon group that is chemically ...
crystals, leading to its use in
semiconductor A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator. Its conductivity can be modified by adding impurities (" doping") to its crystal structure. When two regions with different doping level ...
production. In 1917, Czochralski organized the research laboratory "Metallbank und Metallurgische Gesellschaft", which he directed until 1928. In 1919 he was one of the founding members of the German Society for Metals Science (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Metallkunde), of which he was president until 1925. In 1924, Czochralski patented a metal alloy known as B-metal, which was perfect for the manufacturing of bearings for railway carriages as it did not contain expensive tin. The German railways were the first institution to buy the patent. B-metal allowed trains to travel at higher speeds and played a significant role in the development of rail transport in Germany, Poland, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union. Czochralski’s achievements brought him international recognition. In 1925, he became the president of the German Association of Metallurgists. He was also invited by
Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American Technological and industrial history of the United States, industrialist and business magnate. As the founder of the Ford Motor Company, he is credited as a pioneer in making automob ...
to visit his factories and offered the position of director at his new aluminum factory, but Czochralski declined. In 1928, at the request of the president of Poland, Ignacy Mościcki, he moved to Poland and was appointed the Professor of Metallurgy and Metal Research at the Chemistry Department of the
Warsaw University of Technology The Warsaw University of Technology () is one of the leading institutes of technology in Poland and one of the largest in Central Europe. It employs 2,453 teaching faculty, with 357 professors (including 145 titular professors). The student body ...
. He also became of the first individuals to receive the university's honorary degrees. In the 1930s, his institute acquired new equipment and facilities, which were used for research into materials for military armaments and some for civilian use. Following Germany's
invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...
, senior German officials visited him, hoping to use his facility for their own purposes. During the German occupation of Warsaw, more restrictions on daily life were imposed on the population; however, Czochralski was able to live largely undisturbed. After
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, he was stripped of his professorship by the communist regime due to his involvement with Germany during the war, although he was later cleared of any wrongdoing by a Polish
court A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...
. He returned to his native town of Kcynia, where he ran a small
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and household chemicals firm until his death in 1953.


Remembrance

As a way to commemorate him, a number of places in Poland were named after Czochralski including schools and streets in such cities like
Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...
,
Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...
,
Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...
and
Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...
. In 2004, the European Materials Research Society established the Jan Czochralski Gold Medal for contributions to
materials science Materials science is an interdisciplinary field of researching and discovering materials. Materials engineering is an engineering field of finding uses for materials in other fields and industries. The intellectual origins of materials sci ...
in honour of the Polish scientist. In 2009, the Polish Post issued a series of four commemorative stamps. The stamp with a denomination of PLN 1,55 depicted Czochralski. In 2012, the
Polish Parliament The parliament of Poland is the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Poland. It is composed of an upper house (the Senate of Poland, Senate) and a lower house (the Sejm). Both houses are accommodated in the Sejm and Senate Complex of Poland, S ...
passed a resolution to name 2013 as "The Year of Jan Czochralski". In 2016, a team of Polish
mineralogist Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical mineralogy, optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifact (archaeology), artifacts. Specific s ...
s led by Łukasz Karwowski from the Silesian University and Andrzej Muszyński from the Adam Mickiewicz University named a newly-discovered mineral '' czochralskiit'' in honour of the Polish chemist. It was discovered during scientific works in the Morasko Meteorite Nature Reserve. In 2018, a
comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...
by Maciej Jasiński and Jacek Michalski entitled ''Jan Czochralski. The Man Who Changed the World'' (Polish: "Jan Czochralski. Człowiek, który zmienił świat") was officially published. In 2019, a commemorative
IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE ...
Milestone plaque honouring Czochralski's scientific achievements was ceremonially unveiled at the
Warsaw University of Technology The Warsaw University of Technology () is one of the leading institutes of technology in Poland and one of the largest in Central Europe. It employs 2,453 teaching faculty, with 357 professors (including 145 titular professors). The student body ...
. In 2019, a square in front of the Mill of Knowledge Innovation Centre in
Toruń Toruń is a city on the Vistula River in north-central Poland and a World Heritage Sites of Poland, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its population was 196,935 as of December 2021. Previously, it was the capital of the Toruń Voivodeship (1975–199 ...
was named in memory of Czochralski.


Citizenship

Jan Czochralski renounced his German citizenship. His brother was murdered by the Germans at the beginning of the Second World War.


Publications

*''Moderne Metallkunde in Theorie und Praxis'', J. Czochralski, published by Springer, Berlin, 1924.


See also

*
List of Poles This is a partial list of notable Polish people, Polish or Polish language, Polish-speaking or -writing people. People of partial Polish heritage have their respective ancestries credited. Physics *Miedziak Antal * Czesław Białobrzesk ...
* Timeline of Polish science and technology


References


External links

* http://www.janczochralski.com * https://zyciorysy.info/jan-czochralski/ * https://web.archive.org/web/20031024215816/http://www.itme.edu.pl/czochralski.htm * http://www.tf.uni-kiel.de/matwis/amat/elmat_en/kap_6/advanced/t6_1_4.html * https://web.archive.org/web/20160303234728/http://www.ptwk.org.pl/php/patron.php?p=eng,pa {{DEFAULTSORT:Czochralski, Jan 1885 births 1953 deaths People from Kcynia People from the Province of Posen 20th-century Polish inventors Academic staff of the Warsaw University of Technology Polish resistance members of World War II 20th-century Polish chemists Academic staff of the University of Warsaw Technische Universität Berlin alumni Polish metallurgists