The annealing characteristics of low-temperature substitutional Au were investigated by using a special annealing method. Concentration profiles of substitutional gold and their decrease during annealing were measured using isothermal capacitance transient spectroscopy and resistivity. The average concentration decreased rapidly with annealing time. The rapid decrease was caused by homogeneous agglomeration of low-temperature substitutional Au via ring-diffusion to an agglomeration center. The diffusion was described by:

D(cm2/s) = (10-5-10-3)exp[-1.7(eV)/kT]

M.Morooka: Materials Science Forum, 1997, 258-263, 1789-94