Submicron nucleation kinetics during a high-speed laser assisted surface modification

Abstract

The Fokker-Planck kinetic equation was solved precisely for a widespread realized in practice a lamellar (dendrite) nucleation in the cases of a laser assisted surface modification including nanofabrication. The expressions for an average size of the crystallizing nucleus were determined, as well as for a relative fraction of the solid phase volume. The submicron particle distribution by sizes, average radius, and density of a new growing phase are evaluated numerically depending on regimes of the laser influence. The effect exerted on morphology, chemical state (to be more precise, catalytic properties), and deformations of the kinetic of phase transformation are considered. A new criterion for the amorphous state obtained after high-speed laser cooling is proposed. Copyright © 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.