Dendritic aggregation of gold particles on graphite surface

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Abstract
Early stages of gold-film formation on graphite by gold vapor deposition have been studied by means of scanning tunneling microscope (STM). Several kinds of microclusters of about 2 nm in diameter, as nuclei for film formation, are resolved to an atomic scale. Fine particles of 5–10 nm in diameter grow at nucleation sites. These particles aggregate and coalesce with each other to form large islands. The growth pattern depends on the substrate temperature. Dendritic islands are observed at a substrate temperature of around 80 °C