Structural and morphological investigations on nano-structured gold thin film are reported.

Utilization of gold is found in thin films biosensor, chemical sensors, optoelectronics, electronics
and electromagnetism sensors and communications. The Au thin films were deposited on Si
(111) 7x7 reconstruction wafers under an ultra high vacuum (10
-10
mbar) by molecular beam
epitaxy technique. The film thickness is monitored using a beam flux monitor and for deposition
material we use 99.9995% pure gold (Premion, Alfa, Germany). Structural properties of the thin
film were studied using Bruker D8 X-ray Diffractometer with Cu K radiation. We have
investigated the influence of the deposition rate on the morphology of the films. After cooling
the deposited films, ex situ characterizations are performed using STM and AFM. The STM and
AFM experiments were performed using a variable temperature SPM (VT-SPM by Omicron)
operated under ultra high vacuum conditions. All data recording was performed at room
temperature.