Formation and evolution of self-organized Au nanorings on indium-tin-oxide surface

This work reports on the formation of Au nanoclusters and on their evolution in nanoring structures on indium-tin-oxide surface by sputtering deposition and annealing processes. The quantification of the characteristics of the nanorings (surface density, depth, height, and width) is performed by atomic force microscopy. The possibility to control these characteristics by tuning annealing temperature and time is demonstrated establishing relations which allow to set the process parameters to obtain nanostructures of desired morphological properties for various technological applications. © 2011 American Institute of Physics.