The first passage times for the formation of the first nucleus of three deposits (alpha-PbO2, Ag and Hg) on a carbon microelectrocle disk of area = 5 x 10(-7) cm(2) are compared with the models of such processes. It is shown that the interpretation of the data requires LIS to assume that nucleation starts with the formation of incoherent clusters. The transition to spontaneous crystal growth is suggested to be the consequence of the development of coherence domains in the electrodeposit. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.