Investigation of the Formation Mechanisms of Pd Nanoclusters Produced Using a Magnetron Sputtering Source

Abstract

We report on the fabrication of palladium (Pd) nanoclusters using a dc magnetron sputtering source. The sputtering source produces ionized nanoclusters that enable the study of the nanoclusters’ size distribution using a quadrupole mass filter. In this work, the dependence of Pd nanoclusters’ size distribution on various source parameters, such as the inert gas flow rate, and aggregation length have been investigated in details. This work demonstrates the ability of tuning the palladium nanoclusters’ size by proper optimization of the source operation conditions.