Nucleation and growth of gold nanoparticles deposited by RF-sputtering: an experimental study

Gold nanoparticles were deposited on SiO2, Si(100) and HOPG (Highly Oriented Pyrolitic Graphite) by RF-sputtering from Ar plasmas. Sample preparation was performed at temperatures as low as 60°C under different total pressures, RF-powers and deposition times, with particular attention to the influence of process parameters and growth surface on nanosystem properties. In this paper, the most important results regarding the compositional, structural and morphological features of the obtained specimens, are presented and discussed.