Scaling in the growth of aggregates on a surface

An analysis is presented of the growth of silver aggregates in the size range 10–200 Å on an amorphous carbon substrate (a-C). It is found that growth at this submicroscopic scale exhibits the main statistical properties observed on a scale of ${10}^{\mathrm{-}3}$–1 mm in the patterns formed when a vapor (water) condenses on a surface that is incompletely wetted by the liquid droplets; that is, the phenomenon of ‘‘breath figures.’’ The similarity is striking and is interpreted as a consequence of the scaling properties induced by the coalescence of domains.