Investigations of the Structural and Electrical Properties of discontinuous Gold Films Condensed on SiO and Glass Substrates

The resistances of thin gold films have been measured and monitored during condensation on substrates of SiO and glass. It has been shown that the different growth stages of thin films can be easily determined from the plotted curves of resistance vs. incoming atoms, while the structural properties, e.g. island density and gap widths, have turned out to be very sensitive to substrate conditions. It has also been shown that thermionic emission seems to be the main conduction mechanism. This suggestion has been based on comparisons between an extended theory and the experiments performed.