Generalized kinetic potential and mechanism of the ridge crossing in binary nucleation

We investigate the feature of generalized kinetic potential for binary nucl eation which governs the pathway of the major nucleation flux. The general conditions under which major nucleation flux bypasses the thermodynamic sad dle point are clarified, and both the discrepancy in the attachment rates o f two species and the nonuniformity of the direction of nucleation flux are found to be the major causes of the bypassing. Ridge crossing phenomenon i s explained on the basis of the generalized approach. (C) 1999 Elsevier Sci ence B.V. All rights reserved.