Abstract
Very thin layers of several metals have been deposited onto smooth (111) surfaces of silver single crystals. The initial stages of growth of these deposits were followed by electron diffraction. Lead, thallium and silver grew in the form of oriented monolayers, while three-dimensional crystallites of gold and nickel were found in the earliest detectable stages. Thin deposits up to about 8 Å of both tin and antimony possessed an amorphous structure only. Spontaneous crystallization of these films was observed and thicker films were wholly crystalline. In several cases a proportion of randomly oriented deposit was formed which predominated when the thickness of the film was increased. This shows the importance of examining the initial stages of the process. No evidence for pseudomorphic growth was observed.

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