The ordered arrays of Au nanoparticles were fabricated by electron-beam-induced selective deposition process in an ordered pore arrays of anodic porous alumina membrane. The microstructure of the as-deposited nanoparticles was characterized using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and microdiffraction technique. It was determined that the as-deposited nanoparticles consisted of many nanocrystallites of An metal. The size of these nanocrystallites in the as-deposited nanoparticles was smaller than 5 nm. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.