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

Epitaxial Au thin films with thicknesses of 40–160 nm were grown on (1 0 0)-oriented single-crystal NaCl substrates at 300 °C by magnetron sputtering. Microstructural analyses revealed that all films possess orthogonal twin networks along the 〈0 1 1〉 directions. The experimentally observed relationship of an increase in twin density with decreasing film thickness is explained by kinematical and thermodynamical modeling. The developed twin model predicts a nanometer-sized width of the twins, in agreement with the experiment.