Three-Dimensional Characterization of Morphology and Crystallography of a Gold Nanoisland Film

Abstract

The morphological and crystallographic characteristics of noble metal nanoisland films play an important role in determining their properties, performance, and reliability. In this work we have applied a rapid three-dimensional orientation mapping technique in the transmission electron microscope (3D-OMiTEM) in the characterization of a gold nanoisland film. A volume of 200×1024×1024 nm3 has been analyzed, generating a 3D orientation map composed of more than 500 nanoislands and 7000 grains constituting the islands. The 3D shapes and sizes of individual islands and grains have been analyzed, revealing their true 3D morphological features and the correlation between the number of grains within individual islands and the size of the islands. The crystallographic orientations of the grains and the misorientations across the grain boundaries have been quantified, revealing a weak texture but a preferential presence of Σ3 and Σ9 grain boundaries in the gold nanoisland film.