Role of underlayers in the development of evolutionary texture in polycrystalline thin films

The evolution of texture in polycrystalline thin films is mainly controlled by two parameters: the substrate temperature and the impurity content. Experiments carried out on Al thin films, deposited with different deposition rates onto Cr and amorphous Al2O3 underlayers, indicate that the substrate used has an influence on the incorporation of impurities into the film. The incorporated impurities are segregated into the grain boundaries and limit the grain boundary migration, in this way limiting the texture evolution.