  The first order phase transitions between a two-dimensional (2d) gas and the
2d solid of the first monolayer have been studied for the noble gases Ar, Kr
and Xe on a NaCl(100) surface in quasi-equilibrium with the three-dimensional
gas phase. Using linear temperature ramps, we show that the widths of the
hysteresis loops of these transitions as a function of the heating rate, r,
scales with a power law r^alpha with alpha between 0.4 and 0.5 depending on the
system. The hysteresis loops for different heating rates are similar. The
island area of the condensed layer was found to grow initially with a t^4 time
dependence. These results are in agreement with theory, which predicts alpha =
0.5 and hysteresis loop similarity.
