(1) Recrystallization in the solid state is the change in the crystal structure of a substance that takes place upon heating or cooling, without a change in the state of aggregation. It is determined by the polymorphic (allotropic) transformations of the components forming the solid.

(2) Recrystallization from solutions is a process involving the dissolution of a crystalline substance with the subsequent precipitation of its crystals from the solution. It is used to remove impurities from crystalline substances.

the process of the formation and growth, or only the growth, of single crystalline grains (crystallites) of a polycrystal at the expense of other grains of the same phase. The rate of recrystallization increases exponentially with temperature. Recrystallization is especially rapid in plastically deformed materials.

Three stages of recrystallization are distinguished: the primary stage, in which new, nondeformed crystallites are formed in the deformed material and grow by absorbing the deformed grains; the accumulative stage, in which the nondeformed grains grow at each other’s expense, as a result of which the average size of the grain increases; and secondary recrystallization, which differs from the accumulative stage in that only a few of the nondeformed grains have the capacity to grow. In the course of secondary recrystallization the structure is characterized by grains of different sizes.

Recrystallization eliminates structural defects, alters the size of the grains, and may alter the crystallographic orientation of the grains (texture). Recrystallization changes the state of a substance to one of greater thermodynamic stability. In the primary stage this change is due to a reduction in the distortions produced by the deformation, and in accumulative and secondary recrystallization it is due to a reduction in the total surface area of the boundaries between the grains. Recrystallization alters all the structurally sensitive properties of the deformed material and often restores the predeformation structure, texture, and properties. Sometimes the structure and texture after recrystallization differ from the original structure and texture and thus there is also a difference in properties.

Recrystallization is widely used in industry in metal and alloy technology to regulate the shape and size of the grains and the texture and properties of the metals and alloys.