Crystallography, Institute of

(A. V. Shubnikov Institute of Crystallography of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR), a research institute for the study of the structure, physical properties, and formation of crystals.

The A. V. Shubnikov Institute of Crystallography was founded in 1943 in Moscow from the Crystallography Laboratory of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (organized in 1938). Academician A. V. Shubnikov was the institute’s founder and first director. Academician N. V. Belov has worked at the institute since its founding. Since 1962 the director has been B. K. Vainshtein, a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.

The Institute of Crystallography has made a great contribution to the development of the theories of crystal symmetry (the theories of antisymmetry and color symmetry) and structural analysis, the creation of structural electron-diffraction analysis, and the development of X-ray and electron scattering in crystal analysis and the automation of structure decipherment. The institute has carried out studies and summaries of the crystal chemistry of silicates and semiconducting compounds and of the structure of biological macromolecules. It has made a number of studies of the optical, mechanical, ferroelectric, and photoelectric properties of crystals and has conducted research on the real structure of crystals and the theory of dislocations. It has also discovered the electric topography of crystal surfaces.

Fundamental research on crystal growth has been carried out at the institute. In particular, the institute was active in the discovery of spiral growth, the study of nucleation, and the development of the theory of crystal growth and the statistical kinetics of crystallization. It has developed new methods of crystal synthesis. Studies of the institute and its affiliates have led to the creation in the Soviet Union of the monocrystal industry, which is essential for the development of radio electronics, quantum and semiconductor electronics, optics, acoustics, and precision-instrument making. The Institute of Crystallography and its specialized bureau of design have developed and introduced into industry unique crystallization apparatus and automatic diffractometers.

The institute was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor in 1969.