Stochastic modeling of solid nucleation in supercooled liquids

Abstract

We have formulated a nucleation model that can simulate nucleation of solids in supercooled liquid in a manner that is consistent with the stochastic nature and kinetic aspect of the phenomenon. This is accomplished, even under highly transient and nonuniform thermal conditions, by (1) calculating the probability of nucleation in each and every liquid node during each time step using the Poisson expression, and (2) triggering nucleation if and only when the random number assigned to a node for the time step is less than the calculated nucleation probability. In contrast with previous models, no empirical or deterministic conditions for nucleation are imposed. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the model by analyzing nucleation-initiated solidification as encountered in pulsed laser-induced irradiation of thin Si films, and discuss the generality and utility of the model.