CONTROLLED CLUSTER CONDENSATION INTO PREFORMED NANOMETER-SIZED PITS

We have performed scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) in ultrahigh vac uum and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) on silver and gold clus ters grown in preformed nanometer-sized pits on the surface of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite. We describe the preparation method and ev aluate the three-dimensional shape of the clusters using a combination of STM and TEM applied to the same cluster sample, The nanometer-size d pits were essential to fix the clusters in position when using STM. The influence of the tip shape on the STM imaging of nanometer-sized c lusters is discussed. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.