Evidence is presented here for kinetic energy influences on the growth mode and chemical interactions of Cr, Co, and Cu deposited by sputtering and evaporative methods on self-assembled monolayers of amine-terminated poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers on SiOx, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements show that metal nitrides are formed upon deposition of the more reactive metals and the extent of reaction increases with increasing kinetic energy of the deposited species. A peak observed at 398.5 eV in the N Is spectrum following Cu deposition apparently indicates bond breaking in the internal amido branches of the dendrimer structure but not formation of the metal nitride. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) reveals obvious changes in the surface topography due to the dendrimer adlayer, particularly for the less reactive Cu. (C) 2003 American Vacuum Society.