The influence of annealing on Au films deposited on Ge seed layers

In this work is studied the influence of annealing on metal island and compact Au films formed on the substrates with and without Ge seed layer. Samples with different thicknesses of Au were annealed at different temperatures. Optical characterization of the samples was performed based on ellipsometric measurements. The obtained results demonstrate that, even in the conditions of moderately elevated temperature, Ge seed layer promotes the percolation of metal islands.