On the origin of logarithmic-normal distributions: An analytical derivation, and its application to nucleation and growth processes

The logarithmic-normal (lognormal) distribution is one of the most frequently observed distributions in nature and describes a large number of physical, biological and even sociological phenomena. The origin of this distribution is therefore of broad interest but a general derivation from basic principles is still lacking. Using random nucleation and growth to describe crystallization processes we derive the time development of grain-size distributions. Our derivation provides, for the first time, an analytical expression of the size distribution in the form of a lognormal type distribution. We apply our results to the grain-size distribution of solid phase crystallized Si-films. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.