Experimental studies of the vapor phase nucleation of refractory compounds. III. The condensation of silver

Abstract
Measurements are reported of the critical supersaturation necessary to initiate the vapor phase nucleation of silver over the ambient temperature range 500 K≤T≤950 K at total pressures of 250 and 500 Torr of hydrogen. The results are compared with the predictions of both classical nucleation theory and the theory of a physical spinodal developed by Rasmussen, neither of which adequately describe our observations. The nucleation of silver appears to be dependent on the total pressure of the system in a manner which suggests that three-body reactions are necessary in order to form the initial silver clusters (e.g., dimers) from the monoatomic vapor.