Ru films patterned by ion-beam sputtering (IBS) serve as sacrificial masks for the transfer of the patterns to Si(1 0 0) and metallic glass substrates by continued IBS. Under the same sputter condition, however, both bare substrates remain featureless. Chemical analyses of the individual nano structures simultaneously with the investigation of their morphological evolution reveal that the pattern transfer, despite its apparent success, suffers from premature degradation before the mask is fully removed by IBS. Moreover, the residue of the mask or Ru atoms stubbornly remains near the surface, resulting in unintended doping or alloying of both patterned substrates. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.