Explosive-crystallization waves in thin amorphous layers on heat conducting substrates with thermal contact resistance

A model for explosive crystallization in a thin amorphous layer on a heat conducting substrate is presented. Rate equations are used to describe the kinetics of the homogeneous amorphous‐crystalline transition. Heat conduction into the substrate and thermal contact resistance at the interface between layer and substrate are taken into account. The whole process is examined as a wave of invariant shape in a moving frame of reference. A coupled system of an integro‐differential equation and ordinary differential equations is obtained and solved numerically. The propagation velocity of the wave is obtained as an eigenvalue of the system of equations. Some representative solutions are shown. Crystallization‐wave velocities are compared with experimental values for explosive crystallization in germanium. (© 2014 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)