Observation of fractal nanoclusters on the pulsed laser deposition of gold

The results of studying the fractal structure of Au clusters arising in pul sed laser deposition under conditions of strong deviations from thermodynam ic equilibrium are presented. A mechanism is suggested in which the formati on of fractal nanoclusters is considered as a result of the decay of a stro ngly correlated initial state in a nonequilibrium system of adatoms. The ge ometrical shape of the fractal structures observed experimentally can be de scribed within the given mechanism, and their dimensionality can be estimat ed. (C) 2001 MAIK "Nauka/Interperiodica".