Texture-dependent twin formation in nanocrystalline thin Pd films

Nanocrystalline Pd films were produced by electron-beam evaporation and sputter deposition. The electron-beam-evaporated films reveal randomly oriented nanograins with a relatively high density of growth twins, unexpected in view of the high stacking fault energy of Pd. In contrast, sputter-deposited films show a clear < 1 1 1 > crystallographic textured nanostructure without twins. These results provide insightful information to guide the generation of microstructures with enhanced strength/ductility balance in high stacking fault energy nanocrystalline metallic thin films. (C) 2012 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.