Transient nucleation distributions and fluxes at intermediate times and sizes

General interpolating expressions, valid for nearand arbitrary overcritical sizes of clusters, are proposed for the nucleation fluxes and distributions. Results are expressed in terms of the deterministic growth rates, and are characterized by a non-Gaussian dependence on the size of nuclei. In a sense, the proposed approximations combine the positive aspects of the parabolic model by Trinkaus and Yoo @Philos. Mag. A 55, 269 ~1987!# and of the boundary layer ~‘‘matched asymptotic’’! solution earlier described by the author @Sov. Phys. Tech. Phys. 32, 76 ~1987!; 33, 1338 ~1988!#. Specifications of the general results are made for several mainstream nucleation models via selection of appropriate growth rates. Examples include surfaceand diffusion-limited nucleation in the continuous ~Zeldovich–Frenkel! and discrete ~Becker–Döring, Turnbull–Fisher! versions of the nucleation equation. © 2001 American Institute of Physics. @DOI: 10.1063/1.1409366#