Application of a one-order parameter density functional model of crystal-melt transition to nucleatlon and steady-state kinetics: crystal-melt asymmetry

A one-order parameter model of crystal-melt transition is used to study the thermodynamics of crystal-melt nucleation and the steady-state kinetics of melting and freezing, A simple Ginzburg-Landau free energy model is constructed using the density functional theory. A remarkable asymmetry between freezing and melting behaviors is found, which is shown to be related to the asymmetry of the free energy. This universal model successfully explains the observed universality of maximum undercooling and the asymmetry of planar freezing and the melting front.