Nucleation and growth of pulsed laser deposited gold on sodium chloride (100)

The nucleation and growth of gold films deposited by pulsed laser deposition technique on NaCl (100) surface have been studied by transmission electron microscopy and RES between room temperature and 250 degrees C. At room temperature the gold is found to be textured from the initial stage of deposition and to form a continuous film at a thickness of about 6.0 nm. At higher substrate temperatures the films reveal better epitaxial quality at the corresponding coverages, but continuous layers are observed at much larger thickness (35 nm at T = 140 degrees C) or are not completed at all (at T= 250 degrees C). The nucleation and growth of Au film on NaCl (100) is discussed in terms of conditions characteristic of the pulsed laser deposition, like the high average energy (approximate to 100 eV) and huge instantaneous deposition rate of the atoms. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.