Peculiarities of dissolution of a thin gold film in silicate glass under electron irradiation

It is experimentally established that irradiation of a silicate glass coated with a thin gold film by 35-keV electrons to a dose of 50–65 mC/cm2 leads to partial dissolution of the gold film in glass. Subsequent heat treatment above the glass transition temperature results in the formation of a buried gold layer and gold nanoparticles beneath the glass surface. The observed phenomenon is related to the formation of a negatively charged region under the irradiated glass surface, which leads to field-induced migration of gold ions into the volume of glass.