Nucleation kinetics in thin film growth III transient nucleation and nucleation on preferred substrate sites

An analytical method is described by which the initial (transient) stage of thin film nucleation may be generally treated. The method is extended to cover simultaneous nucleation at substrate defect sites and at normal lattice sites. Post-transient nucleation and growth under these latter conditions is also considered in detail. The analysis is applied to defect-controlled nucleation under complete condensation conditions and the results are compared with those previously derived for nucleation on a perfect defect-free substrate. The application of this analysis to computer simulation of thin film nucleation and growth is discussed.