The early stages of film growth were investigated via the deposition of size-selected silver clusters on graphite, as a function of incident cluster size. For all sizes from 50 to 250 atoms per cluster, the deposited clusters were mobile and coalesced into three-dimensional particles with a so-called universal diameter of ≈ 14nm; possibly a consequence of lattice strain between the silver and graphite. The 14nm particles were found mainly in small aggregates, indicating that they themselves were to some degree mobile. Evidence was also found that the particle mobility was influenced by the cluster impact angle.

Diffusion and Aggregation of Size-Selected Silver Clusters on a Graphite Surface. Goldby, I.M., Kuipers, L., Von Issendorff, B., Palmer, R.E.: Applied Physics Letters, 1996, 69[19], 2819-21