Films of Au-doped material were obtained via reactive radio-frequency magnetron sputtering, using pure Zn and Au targets. Layers having a Au/Zn ratio of up to 0.71 were deposited, and were analyzed by using Rutherford back-scattering spectroscopy, elastic recoil detection analysis, transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution electron microscopy, selected-area electron diffraction, X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy. The only crystalline phase which was found, for all of the investigated Au concentrations, was ZnO. It was concluded that some of the Au entered the compact hexagonal lattice of ZnO as interstitial atoms which were bonded to three O atoms of the structure.

Structural Properties of Sputtered ZnO-Au Films. A.Goldenblum, V.Teodorescu, F.E.Wagner, R.Manaila, G.Filoti, J.P.Deville, D.Pantelica, F.Negoita, A.Belu-Marian, N.Scantee: Philosophical Magazine Letters, 2002, 82[1], 193-204