Inhomogeneous character of the initial stage of ion beam deposition of ultrathin gold films

Gold films with thicknesses ranging from below 1 nm to 3 nm have been simultaneously deposited by the ion beam sputter technique onto the surface of glass substrates smooth on a subnanometer level and onto Si(001) substrates with nanodimensional inhomogeneities in the form of germanium atomic islands. Irrespective of the substrate surface nature, gold deposition initially leads to the formation of a stable layer with a thickness of several atomic monolayers. The gold films with thicknesses above 2 nm are continuous and homogeneous. Terminated in an intermediate stage, the sputter deposition of gold may result in the formation of an inhomogeneous layer of the island type. The results are interpreted taking into account the well-known fact that a high-energy component is present in the flux of the ion beam sputtered target material.