KINETIC-MODEL OF VAPOR-DEPOSITED THIN-FILM CONDENSATION - NUCLEATION STAGE

The nucleation and growth of surface clusters are described by means o f the following approach. The growth process is divided into three sta ges: undercritical, near-critical and overcritical stages. For each st age, certain assumptions are made and the solutions obtained are then joined together at the boundaries. Within the undercritical region, th e distribution of nuclei is considered to be of an equilibrium nature, while within the near-critical region the distribution is quasi-stati onary. For the overcritical region the decay of clusters is considered to be negligible. Using certain approximations for the nucleation rat e and stable cluster growth rate, the set of equations of condensation kinetics is solved analytically. The time dependence of supersaturati on, nucleation rate, surface density of islands and cluster size distr ibution are found.