Using GISAXS to Detect Correlations between the Locations of Gold Particles Electrodeposited from an Aqueous Solution.

Electrodeposition is a powerful tool for the bottom-up fabrication of novel electronic devices. This necessitates a complete understanding of the deposition process beyond the classical description using current transients. Recent calculations predict deviations within the spatial arrangement of electrodeposited particles, away from random nucleation. The spatial arrangement of Au particles generated through aqueous electrodeposition on a nontemplated substrate is investigated by grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS). We show that GISAXS is able to reveal spatial correlations within deposited particles that are not easily detectable by microscopy.