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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 February 2011
Numerical simulations in films and aggregates have repeatedly shown the presence of vibrations during a phase transition and/or the appearance of periodic structures. A phase transition could be controlled and novel nanostructures created by astute manipulation of such phenomena. In order to study the occurrence and effect of wave-like phenomena, the dynamics of a first order phase transition is described using kinetic theory. At a first order phase transition, the initial phase is replaced in time by the new phase on propagation of a density front through the sample. The dynamic stability analysis studies the transition to the uniform phase by propagation of the front and provides the conditions for the formation of transient periodic structures by a local increase of density. The results apply also to spherical geometry and a discussion of cluster dynamics follows the planar case.