Condensation kinetics at high supersaturations

This work is devoted to the kinetics of a first-order phase transition. The evolution of distribution if stable-phase nuclei at high supersaturations, when the discreteness of nuclei sizes becomes significant, is investigated. For the sake of definiteness, the growth of multivacancies in the material irradiated by neutrons is considered under the condition that the degree of supersaturation of the “gas” in a vacancy is high. The first stage of evolution characterized by a small total number of vacancies in multivacancies and time-independent degree of supersaturation is described. The second stage at which the number of vacancies in multivacancies cannot be disregarded and supersaturation gradually decreases is briefly discussed.