Materials Science of Thin Films, 2nd Edition

Chapter 9 Film Structure

9.1 INTRODUCTION

There is scarcely a more important variable than structure in influencing the properties of both as-deposited and subsequently processed films. In particular, controlling grain size, morphology, and crystallinity are primary concerns of the processing used to generate practically all thin films and coatings. Irrespective of whether they arise from solidified liquids, from solid-state reactions, or from condensed vapors, grain structures are nature’s way of organizing countless numbers of atoms that crystallize from numerous growth centers. And as is the case with virtually all phase transformations in materials, we have seen how nucleation and growth processes are involved in thin-film formation. The ...