Volker Ernst Alex

Background

Volker Ernst Alex was born on July 26, 1939, in Magdeburg, Germany, to Ernst Otto Alex and Erna Rödel Alex. His early life unfolded during a period of major political and scientific change in Germany, including the division of the country after the Second World War and the subsequent development of separate scientific institutions in East and West Germany.

Alex later established his professional base in the scientific institutions of Halle and Berlin. His work connected university physics with research in crystal growth, semiconductor materials, and crystallographic instrumentation.

Education

Alex studied physics at University Halle, receiving a diploma in physics in 1964 and a Doctor of Philosophy in physics in 1970. The university, founded in 1694 and later known as Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, was one of the historic German centers of higher learning and scientific research.

His education coincided with the expansion of solid-state physics and materials research after the Second World War. This scientific environment increasingly linked the study of crystal structure and growth with semiconductor technology, optical devices, and precision instrumentation.

Career

Alex began his academic career as an assistant at University Halle from 1968 to 1973. His work developed within the university-based physics system of the German Democratic Republic, where research in solid-state physics and materials science formed part of a broader state-supported scientific infrastructure.

From 1973 to 1991, he worked as a researcher in the Academy of Sciences in Berlin. The Academy served as the principal state research organization of the German Democratic Republic and brought together institutes working in the natural sciences, engineering, and other fields. Alex's research was associated with crystal growth, crystallographic analysis, and semiconductor materials.

From 1992, Alex worked as a researcher at the Institute for Crystal Growth in Berlin, an institution devoted to the preparation, characterization, and application of crystalline materials. His published work addressed silicon and silicon-germanium crystals, crystal defects, hydrogen in crystalline silicon, optical anisotropy, X-ray topography, and related materials-physics problems.

His research included studies of Czochralski-grown crystals, semiconductor films, synchrotron optics, and nonlinear optical materials. He also participated in work on the optical properties of silicon and on the use of graded crystals for high-resolution X-ray applications. His technical contributions included patents for a goniometer head, a device for a circle guide with small set angles, and a device for a circle guide with moment-of-rotation fine setting.

Achievements

• Alex contributed to research on crystal growth and semiconductor materials, including silicon, silicon-germanium, gallium arsenide, tin, and related crystalline substances. His published studies addressed crystal preparation, defects, optical properties, hydrogen in silicon, and X-ray characterization.

• Alex participated in research on graded crystals and crystal-based optics for high-resolution synchrotron radiation applications. This work connected crystal-growth methods with the requirements of advanced X-ray instrumentation.

• Alex was an inventor of patented technical devices including a goniometer head, a device for a circle guide with small set angles, and a device for a circle guide with moment-of-rotation fine setting.

Works

• journal article

  • Application of the Nonlinear Crystal SrB4O7 for Ultrafast Diagnostics Converting to Wavelengths as Short as 125 nm

    (Co-authored research using strontium tetraborate crystals...)

    2004

  • Optical Anisotropy and Strain-Induced Birefringence in Dislocation-Free Silicon Single Crystals

    (Investigation of optical anisotropy and strain-induced bi...)

    2002

  • Single Crystal Growth of Si1 − Ge by the Czochralski Technique

    (Co-authored research on the growth of silicon-germanium s...)

    1996

  • Pulsed dc Magnetron-Sputtering of Microcrystalline Silicon

    (Co-authored study of microcrystalline silicon produced by...)

    2002

  • Züchtung, Präparation und Röntgentopographie nahezu idealer Sn-Kristalle

    (Co-authored study of the growth, preparation, and X-ray t...)

    1970

  • On the Feasibility of Employing Gradient Crystals for High Resolution Synchrotron Optics

    (Co-authored assessment of graded crystals for high-resolu...)

    1996

  • Laterally-Graded SiGe Crystals for High Resolution Synchrotron Optics

    (Research on laterally graded silicon-germanium crystals f...)

    2002

  • Raman Spectroscopy of Hydrogen Molecules in Crystalline Silicon

    (Co-authored Raman-spectroscopic investigation of hydrogen...)

    1998

  • Growth, Preparation, and X-Ray Topography of Nickel Crystals

    (Co-authored research on the growth, preparation, and X-ra...)

    1974

  • The Problem of Twinning in NdGaO3 Czochralski Crystals

    (Study of twinning in neodymium gallium oxide crystals pro...)

    1994

  • Temperature Dependence of the Indirect Energy Gap in Crystalline Silicon

    (Study of the temperature dependence of the indirect energ...)

    1996

  • Formation and Structure of Hydrogen Molecules in Crystalline Si

    (Research on the formation and structure of hydrogen molec...)

    1997

  • Optical Anisotropy in Dislocation-Free Silicon Single Crystals

    (Co-authored study of optical anisotropy in dislocation-fr...)

    2003

  • Optical Data Storage in Semi-Insulating GaAs

    (Study of optical data-storage properties in semi-insulati...)

    1998

  • Formation of Hydrogen Molecules in Crystalline Silicon

    (Further investigation of hydrogen-molecule formation in c...)

    1999

Membership

Alex was a member of the German Physical Society, the German Society for Crystallography, and the German Society for Crystal Growth. The German Physical Society is the principal professional association for physicists in Germany, while crystallographic and crystal-growth societies support research, communication, and professional exchange concerning the structure, preparation, and properties of crystalline materials.

• German Physical Society , Germany

• German Society for Crystallography , Germany

• German Society for Crystal Growth , Germany

Connections

Alex married Bettina Margarete Kriebitzsch on May 26, 1978. They had one child, Jördis Margot Alex.

Father:

Ernst Otto Alex

Mother:

Erna Rödel Alex

Spouse:

Bettina Margarete Kriebitzsch

Married Alex on May 26, 1978.

child:

Jördis Margot Alex

References

• Volker Alex research profile Research profile summarizing Alex's publications, research areas, co-authors, journals, and citation record in crystallography, materials chemistry, semiconductor materials, and optical physics.