Interpretation of condensation flux rates of supersaturated vapors of metallic species

It has been suggested that condensation flux rates measured for supersaturated vapors of Cs and Hg may provide indicators of non-metal transitions. An analysis of the available (but fragmentary) data for Cs, Hg, Mg, Fe, Pb and Bi, according to the kinetic-molecular model for the condensation process, indicates that the mechanism that controls cluster generation and growth is the same for vapors of these atomic species as for many previously investigated molecular species. However, the activation energy for evaporation from these small clusters was significantly higher than for the previously analyzed organic species.