SUBSTRATE-INDUCED DEFORMATION OF NANOMETER-SIZE GOLD CLUSTERS STUDIED BY NONCONTACT AFM AND TEM

The ability to perform atomic force and transmission electron microscopy on nanoscale Au clusters supported on the identical alpha-Al2O(3) substrate has been demonstrated. Non-contact atomic force and transmission electron microscope images were used, in a complimentary manner, to determine: (i) the nanoscale structure of the alpha-Al2O3 substrate, (ii) the size distributions of cluster heights (AFM) and diameters (TEM) on alpha-Al2O3, (iii) the fraction of Au clusters imaged on different atomically-smooth substrates using non-contact AFM, and (iv) the surface induced deformation of Au clusters on alpha-Al2O3, MoS2 and HOPG substrates. From these data, information about supported cluster shape and cluster-substrate interactions for these three substrates was obtained.