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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 February 2011
Dispersive cobalt nanoparticles are fabricated directly on Si (001) substrates by DC magnetron sputtering at room temperature. During deposition, the parameters chosen for the investigation are substrate bias (from +525 To –100 Volts), target-to-substrate distance (from 6 to 12 cm) and deposition time (from 10 to 30m sec), while the other parameters are kept the same, including the power of 50 watts. Atomic force microscope (AFM) is employed to determine the density and morphology of cobalt nanoparticles whereas high-resolution electron microscope (HRTEM) is used to visualize the resulting microstructure in the nanoparticles. It is found that Co nanoparticle array can be formed by combining the optimum substrate bias and target-to-substrate distance. The size uniformity of the nanoparticle array can be enhanced by positive bias due to charging effects. The nanoparticle of as small as a few nanometers can be successfully fabricated by DC-sputtering and can be applied to nanotube growth as catalysts.