Re-analysis of the critical nucleation work in the case of diffusive interface

Abstract

Regarding the inherent limitations of previous thermodynamic description on nucleation, the nucleation work has been re-analyzed for undercooled melts by introducing temperature- and position-dependent thermodynamic quantities in the diffusive interface. At the small undercoolings, the obtained critical nucleation work matches that derived from the classical nucleation theory. With the increasing undercooling, the nucleation work approaches and finally becomes smaller than that from the published theories based on the diffusive interface. Substituting the critical nucleation work predicted by the present approach into the steady-state homogeneous nucleation rate, the nucleation rates for pure Hg and Ga have been calculated. It is shown that the results from the present approach fit the experimental values much better than those from the classical nucleation theory. Particularly, for some metals or alloys, the temperature at which the nucleation work vanishes can be predicted using the present approach.