Nano and microcrystallites of gold grown by argon-ion bombardment

Gold crystallites with nano and micrometric dimensions are shown to grow on polycrystalline Au sputtered with 3-keV Ar+ ions while being supplied with Si by sputtering. The crystallites grow at temperatures elevated to 300-40 0 degreesC and exhibit a variety of geometries such as polyhedrons and whis kers. The crystallites never grow without a Si supply. suggesting that sput ter-supplied Si atoms function as the "seed" to nucleate the crystallites. To explain this phenomenon, a collective particle transportation must be po stulated which violates the current rule that ion sputtering is a dispersiv e, and hence, destructive, process. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All righ ts reserved.