This investigation centers around the impregnation of plasma grown alumina films using the incipient wetness technique for introduction of ruthenium chloride to the surface. The modeling of bulk alumina catalysts by use of planar alumina films necessitates investigation of the impregnation of these films. It has been found that very different products are formed by slight changes in the process used for impregnation. The impregnation was found to yield a product ranging from a highly dispersed ruthenium species to the dispersion of relatively large metal islands on the surface of the alumina. Characterization by x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive spectroscopy indicates that the products containing highly dispersed metal are suitable for further investigation in the modeling of bulk ruthenium catalysts.