title: A simple model of burst nucleation.
abstract: We introduce a comprehensive quantitative treatment for burst nucleation (BN)-a kinetic pathway toward self-assembly or crystallization defined by an extended post-supersaturation induction period, followed by a burst of nucleation, and finally the growth of existing stable assemblages absent the formation of new ones-based on a hybrid mean field rate equation model incorporating thermodynamic treatment of the saturated solvent from classical nucleation theory. A key element is the inclusion of a concentration-dependent critical nucleus size, determined self-consistently along with the subcritical cluster population density. The model is applied to an example experimental study of crystallization in tetracene films prepared by organic vapor-liquid-solid deposition, where good agreement is observed with several aspects of the experiment using a single, physically well-defined adjustable parameter. The model predicts many important features of the experiment, and can be generalized to describe other self-organizing systems exhibiting BN kinetics.
authors.affiliation: Advanced Materials Science and Engineering Center, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225, USA. brad.johnson@wwu.edu david.patrick@wwu.edu.
authors.forename: Alexandr
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baronov
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bufkin
authors.forename: Dan W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Shaw
authors.forename: Brad L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: David L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Patrick