During ion beam sputter deposition besides the deposited atoms, which reach the substrate with kinetic energies in the 10 eV range, a certain amount of energetic particles also hit the substrate. These particles which have been reflected or sputtered at the target represent only a small fraction of the atoms reaching the substrate, but have energies of the order of the sputtering beam. The influence of these particles on the island formation of Pt films on a Pt(111) surface has been examined by variation of the deposition geometry, the primary ion energy, and the substrate temperature. It is demonstrated that the main effect is a dramatic increase in island density. The experimental results are in quantitative agreement with the results of a newly developed computer code. ©1997 American Institute of Physics.