Nucleation of Gold Deposits on Alkali-Halide Crystals

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Abstract
Nucleation of gold deposits on the cleavage surface of NaCl and KCl has been studied as a function of substrate temperature and incidence rate. Experimental results on vacuum cleaved surface indicate that selective nucleation occurs on imperfection sites such as point defects and impurities, and that random one occurs on defect-free surfaces at relatively higher deposition rate. The deposits on color-centered surfaces of NaCl produced by X-ray irradiation showed an increase of nucleation density compared with that on the normal cleavage surfaces and an enhancement of (100) parallel epitaxy at relatively lower substrate temperature. It appears that the controlled production of point defects has an important role in nucleation and growth. The nature of nucleation sites is discussed in connection with the epitaxial growth of deposits.