结构光性矿物学的进展

二十年代初期,著名的结晶学家尼格里(Niggli)就指出:“不久将来,人们可以从晶体结构及化学结构计算出晶体的光性常数来,于是就能发现一些规律,这些规律对于矿物学家和结晶学家来说是有着基础意义的”。半个世纪过去了,由于有了大量的晶体结构资料和对化学键不断深入的认识,使得人们有可能来逐步地实现尼格里的这个科学预见。不少物理学家、化学家、结晶学家和矿物学家进行了这方面的研究,已建立起矿物学的一个新分枝--结构光性矿物学。

RECENT ADVANCES IN STRUCTURAL-OPTICAL MINERALOGY

Structural-optical mineralogy is a new branch of mineralogy, a study of the relationships between the optical properties and crystal structure of minerals. In the last 60 years, the works on structural-optical mineralogy cover essentially the following six aspects.1. The dependence of refractive index upon the chemical composition and density of the same mineral.2. The dependence of refractive index upon the crystal structure.3. The influence of the chemical bond, electronegativity, ionization potential, electron shell configuration of ions and the coordinate lumber on the refractive index of a mineral.4. The dependence of birefringence and optical sign upon the crystal structure of a mineral.5. The relation between the structural state and optical properties.6. The application of the crystal field theory to the study of color, pleochroism and absoption of a mineral.