Strain compensation by twinning in Au thin films: Experiment and model

摘要

Epitaxial Au thin films with thicknesses of 40-160 nm were grown on (100)-oriented single-crystal NaCl substrates at 300 deg C by magnetron sputtering. Microstractural analyses revealed that all films possess orthogonal twin networks along the directions. The experimentally observed relationship of an increase in twin density with decreasing film thickness is explained by kinematical and ther-modynamical modeling. The developed twin model predicts a nanometer-sized width of the twins, in agreement with the experiment.