A mechanism for vaporization of solid metals involving monatomic ledges on metal crystal surfaces is deduced, and an equation is derived for evaporation rate in terms of the dynamics of these ledges. It is shown that crystal edges are a ready source for monatomic ledges. The limiting expression for the vaporization coefficient of large, perfect crystals is given as a function of pressure and temperature by α=⅔(p/pe)+⅓, where pe is the equilibrium vapor pressure. Various predictions of this theory are compared with available experimental results.
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Hirth et al. (1957) studied this question.
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