ISSN:
1063-7834
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Physics
Notes:
Abstract The nucleation and growth of islands of a new phase on the surface of solids has been studied both experimentally and theoretically for the particular case of the transition from the pyrochlore to perovskite phase in a thin film of a lead zirconate-titanate ferroelectric. This transformation was chosen because the new-phase islands have a stable circular shape in this case, a relatively large size (10−5–10−4 m) permitting their observation with an optical microscope, and a low growth rate (10−8–10−9 m/s). A theoretical analysis of the process, based on the kinetic theory of first-order phase transitions proposed earlier, has been carried out and the behavior in time of all main characteristics of a phase transformation, namely, nucleation rate, concentration of the new-phase islands, their size distribution, and relative overheating, has been calculated. The same characteristics have been measured experimentally, thus permitting one for the first time to make a thorough comparison of the theoretical with experimental data on the kinetics of first-order phase transitions. They have been found to be in a good agreement.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1134/1.1129809
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