Collisions between high-energy particles and surface atoms on a substrate surface strongly influence the condensation state of constituent atoms. We investigated a meta-stable condensation state of mercury in plasma on glass substrates. A thin glass cell was developed for ensuring the accuracy of density measurement of mercury. Below 3 10 K the activation energy, 0.67eV, estimated from the temperature dependence of emission intensity from Hg 7(3)S(1) level coincided with the activation energy for evaporation of mercury atoms from a liquid surface. Above 310K, the activation energy decreased to 0.34eV, which showed the transition from 3D condensation to 2D condensation. The effect of hi h-energy particles from a plasma was investigated by measuring the time dependence of emission intensity 9 from mercury 546nm after the switch off period of a plasma. To clarify the contribution of the diffusion process and heating rate, dT/dt, the dependence of the emission intensity was measured. Meta-stable condensation states with intermediate activation energies were observed at 1 K/min

Keywords:crystal morphology;nucleation;surface processes;physical vapor deposition processes;mercury