A process used in crystal growth in which a mixture of large and small crystals is in contact with a solvent. The large crystals grow and the small crystals disappear. This occurs because there is a higher energy associated with the smaller crystals. When they dissolve, the heat associated with this higher energy is released, enabling recrystallization to occur on the large crystals. Ostwald ripening is used in such applications as photography, requiring crystals with specific properties. The process was discovered by Friedrich Wilhelm Ostwald (1853–1932) in 1896.