Influence of Ar+ jet treatment and low substrate temperature on the solid-state dewetting of gold films

This paper looks at how solid-state dewetting of gold films is influenced by two particular substrate factors: an intense Ar+ jet treatment of the substrate just before the gold deposition or a low substrate temperature during the gold deposition. This experimental study was conducted on three types of substrate - glass, silicon with a native oxide layer and mica. For each of these substrates we prepared three samples: a reference sample, an Ar+ treated sample and a cryo-sample. The results are presented in terms of atomic force microscopy images which were taken at every step of each sample preparation. For the reference sample and the Ar+ treated sample the solid-state dewetting will induce a pattern of islands which is rather homogeneous over the sample area, with larger and more isolated islands for the Ar+ treated sample, these last ones also exhibiting a more pronounced tendency of crystallization. For the cryo-sample the solid-state dewetting pattern is of a different type, being much more complex and rather inhomogeneous over the sample area.