Abstract
Abstract The results of a systematic study of the nucleation and growth of gold clusters deposited by r.f. sputtering onto NaCl(100) substrates are presented in this paper. In contrast with evaporation experiments the cleaved surface is exposed to helium during deposition. The variations in the island density and the maximum cluster diameter with the deposition time, deposition rate and substrate temperature were studied. The results, e.g. nucleation rate and growth kinetics, are compared with existing data for evaporation experiments. The growth kinetics in the present study and in evaporation experiments are found to be identical although the data for the other aspects are very different. In order to explain the results obtained for the nucleation rate it has been necessary to assume that some of the sputtered atoms can produce defect sites on the substrate which affect the nucleation process. By extending the kinetic nucleation model it is possible to determine a value for the activation energy of a gold atom leaving a defect site and the fraction of atoms that can produce defects.
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