Nucleation kinetics and critical cooling rate of glass-forming liquids

The critical cooling rate of a substance is the minimum linear rate at which its melt must be cooled to prevent crystallization entirely. In a number of systems this critical cooling rate has proved to be a useful quantitative experimental measure of the tendency to glass formation. The present paper describes a method of deriving theoretical values of the critical cooling rate from classical nucleation kinetics. In general, the calculated values show the correct tendency to glass formation.