In this paper, we report on the production of periodic arrangements of nanometric size gold islands. Samples are realized by depositing gold clusters on organized nanodefects created by focused ion beam (FIB) technique on a graphite surface. We probe the effect of ion dose on the morphology of defects as well as the evolution of the cluster organization with artificial defect nature. This study points out the potentialities of this technique to organize nanostructures on patterned surfaces. Moreover, the high sensitivity of clusters to ultrasmall topographic defects and the good sensitivity of graphite towards ion bombardment reveal the FIB as an ultrafast and ultrahigh-resolution functionalization process for our approach. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.