X-ray diffraction line broadening from thermally deposited gold films

Diffraction profiles were analysed from thermally deposited 111-oriented go ld films, ranging in thickness from 300 to 1900 Angstrom. The data were col lected using the high-resolution powder diffractometer on beamline BM16 at the European Synchrotron Research Facility (ESRF) set at a wavelength of 0. 3507 Angstrom. The profiles were measured under conventional symmetric thet a-2 theta reflection conditions and by asymmetric transmission diffraction to ensure that only crystallites oriented normal to the substrate contribut e to the diffraction. An analysis of the instrument profile shape of the di ffractometer was undertaken using the SRM 660 LaB6 line profile standard. A parallel study of the films using atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy was also undertaken to provide information on the dime nsions of the crystallite columns in the films and the presence of dislocat ions. All the films displayed diffraction broadening arising from both crys tallite-size effects and dislocation-induced strain effects. Analysis of th e magnitude and anisotropy of the dislocation-induced broadening with hkl i ndicates that the dislocations have a mixed screw/edge character and tend t o form primarily on (111) slip planes parallel to the substrate at densitie s of similar to 10(15) to 10(16) m(-2).