Features of Nucleation in Nanovolumes

A precisely solvable model of three-dimensional nanoobject nucleation for a spherical geometry of the medium and nucleus at a constant total volume of the system has been constructed. Activation barriers for the formation of nuclei in various positions are calculated as dependent on the supersaturation and the surface energies of various phases. It is shown that the formation of a metastable crystalline phase can take place due to a gain in the effective surface energy.