Prenucleation of Lead Films with Copper, Gold, and Silver

Lead films evaporated onto thin nucleating layers of Cu, Ag, and Au were studied by the techniques of electron diffraction and electron microscopy. Electron micrographs indicated that films nucleated with Au become continuous much sooner than films nucleated with Ag or Cu. Examination of the diffraction pattern showed Au to be the only metal of the three to form an intermetallic compound with lead, indicating that compound formation aids in nucleation.