In this completely revised edition, all the chapters have been updated to reflect the current state of crystal growth kinetics. At the same time, fifteen percent additional content now allows coverage of computer-assisted modeling of second-order phase changes, microstructure development, novel data and images of coarsening mechanisms, with the most significant single addition being breakthrough results on spinodal decomposition -- published here for the first time in book form.
The refined didactical approach with a streamlined presentation now allows readers to grasp the kinetic concepts even more easily, coherently introducing the field of kinetic processes, especially those involved in crystal growth, and explaining such phenomena as diffusion, nucleation, segregation and phase transitions at a level accessible to graduate students. In addition to the basic kinetic concepts, the textbook presents modern applications where these processes play a major role, including ion implantation, plasma deposition and rapid thermal processing.