Beyond the Kolmogorov Johnson Mehl Avrami kinetics: inclusion of the spatial correlation

The Kolmogorov-Johnson-Mehl-Avrami model, which is a nucleation and growth poissonian process in space, has been implemented by taking into account spatial correlation among nuclei. This is achieved through a detailed study of a system of distinguishable and correlated dots (nuclei). The probability that no dots be in a region of the space has been evaluated in terms of correlation functions. The theory has been applied to describe nucleation and growth in two dimensions under constant nucleation rate, where correlation among nuclei depends upon the size of the nucleus. We propose a simple formula for describing the phase transition kinetics in the presence of correlation among nuclei. The theory is applied to the constant nucleation rate process when correlation depends upon the nucleus-birth time. It is shown that the random sequential adsorption and Tobin process can be analyzed in the framework of the simultaneous nucleation case, admitting a common rationale that is apart from an appropriate re-scaling they represent the same process from the mathematical point of view.

M. Fanfoni, M. Tomellini · 2003