Cluster nucleation limited by growth pattern coverage in thin film preparation from vapor

In the early stage of thin film preparation. from vapor, growth patterns co nsisting of stable clusters will gradually cover almost the entire substrat e surface. During this process, the density of single atoms is zero on grow th patterns and the nucleation of clusters will proceed in the substrate pa rts uncovered by these patterns. The influence of growth pattern coverage o n the nucleation of thin films has not been considered wholly in the classi cal theory of thin films. We will systematically study the influence of gro wth pattern coverage and give some correction formulas for the widely used classical theory of thin films. It was found that the classical nucleation rate is proportional to the square of the uncovered area. The corrected for mulas are of particular importance in the dominant coverage case.