In this thesis, we present the first comparative study of crystallographic texture development in three different types of metal thin film composites: fully miscible (Au-Ag), slightly immiscible (Cu-Ag) and immiscible (Au-SiO 2). Texture development refers to the distribution of orientations of crystallites in polycrystalline thin films, and is an important part of the microstructure that determines thin film properties. A material's crystallographic texture needs to be understood because of its sensitivity to the energetic growth conditions. By controlling the microstructure, a material can be tailored to specific applications. We investigated in comparison the texture and microstructure evolution in metal composite systems through x-ray diffraction pole figures. Our thin film materials were codeposited at room temperature by magnetron sputtering. Each of these composite metal systems shows a different behavior as determined by the phase diagram of the composites. The fully miscible fcc-fcc Au-Ag system shows a constant strong (111) fiber texture perpendicular to the substrate, that is also characteristic of each single phase in a pure state. The slightly immiscible fcc-fcc Cu-Ag system shows an unexpected increase in pole figure intensity in the alloy region compared with the pure metals. These Cu-Ag thin films were also evaluated for antimicrobial applications. The fully immiscible Au-SiO2 system is an fcc metal-insulator segregated composite, which shows a rapid drop in Au (111) pole figure intensity with the addition of a few percent SiO2. We interpret this as a pinning behavior and model the results using a phase-field simulation method.
","abstract_html":"<p>In this thesis, we present the first comparative study of crystallographic texture development in three different types of metal thin film composites: fully miscible (Au-Ag), slightly immiscible (Cu-Ag) and immiscible (Au-SiO 2). Texture development refers to the distribution of orientations of crystallites in polycrystalline thin films, and is an important part of the microstructure that determines thin film properties. A material's crystallographic texture needs to be understood because of its sensitivity to the energetic growth conditions. By controlling the microstructure, a material can be tailored to specific applications. We investigated in comparison the texture and microstructure evolution in metal composite systems through x-ray diffraction pole figures. Our thin film materials were codeposited at room temperature by magnetron sputtering. Each of these composite metal systems shows a different behavior as determined by the phase diagram of the composites. The fully miscible fcc-fcc Au-Ag system shows a constant strong (111) fiber texture perpendicular to the substrate, that is also characteristic of each single phase in a pure state. The slightly immiscible fcc-fcc Cu-Ag system shows an unexpected increase in pole figure intensity in the alloy region compared with the pure metals. These Cu-Ag thin films were also evaluated for antimicrobial applications. The fully immiscible Au-SiO2 system is an fcc metal-insulator segregated composite, which shows a rapid drop in Au (111) pole figure intensity with the addition of a few percent SiO2. We interpret this as a pinning behavior and model the results using a phase-field simulation method.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Filoti, Dana I"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["James M E Harper"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2010,"date_issued":"2010-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2010-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:22:31Z","subjects":["Engineering","Materials Science","Physics","Atomic","Solid State"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/590","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["James M E Harper"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Filoti, Dana I"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Engineering","Materials Science","Physics","Atomic","Solid State"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/590"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["In this thesis, we present the first comparative study of crystallographic texture development in three different types of metal thin film composites: fully miscible (Au-Ag), slightly immiscible (Cu-Ag) and immiscible (Au-SiO 2). Texture development refers to the distribution of orientations of crystallites in polycrystalline thin films, and is an important part of the microstructure that determines thin film properties. A material's crystallographic texture needs to be understood because of its sensitivity to the energetic growth conditions. By controlling the microstructure, a material can be tailored to specific applications. We investigated in comparison the texture and microstructure evolution in metal composite systems through x-ray diffraction pole figures. Our thin film materials were codeposited at room temperature by magnetron sputtering. Each of these composite metal systems shows a different behavior as determined by the phase diagram of the composites. The fully miscible fcc-fcc Au-Ag system shows a constant strong (111) fiber texture perpendicular to the substrate, that is also characteristic of each single phase in a pure state. The slightly immiscible fcc-fcc Cu-Ag system shows an unexpected increase in pole figure intensity in the alloy region compared with the pure metals. These Cu-Ag thin films were also evaluated for antimicrobial applications. The fully immiscible Au-SiO2 system is an fcc metal-insulator segregated composite, which shows a rapid drop in Au (111) pole figure intensity with the addition of a few percent SiO2. We interpret this as a pinning behavior and model the results using a phase-field simulation method.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Microstructural evolution of sputtered phase segregated metal composite thin films"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["James M E Harper"],"dc:creator":["Filoti, Dana I"],"dc:description.abstract":["In this thesis, we present the first comparative study of crystallographic texture development in three different types of metal thin film composites: fully miscible (Au-Ag), slightly immiscible (Cu-Ag) and immiscible (Au-SiO 2). Texture development refers to the distribution of orientations of crystallites in polycrystalline thin films, and is an important part of the microstructure that determines thin film properties. A material's crystallographic texture needs to be understood because of its sensitivity to the energetic growth conditions. By controlling the microstructure, a material can be tailored to specific applications. We investigated in comparison the texture and microstructure evolution in metal composite systems through x-ray diffraction pole figures. Our thin film materials were codeposited at room temperature by magnetron sputtering. Each of these composite metal systems shows a different behavior as determined by the phase diagram of the composites. The fully miscible fcc-fcc Au-Ag system shows a constant strong (111) fiber texture perpendicular to the substrate, that is also characteristic of each single phase in a pure state. The slightly immiscible fcc-fcc Cu-Ag system shows an unexpected increase in pole figure intensity in the alloy region compared with the pure metals. These Cu-Ag thin films were also evaluated for antimicrobial applications. The fully immiscible Au-SiO2 system is an fcc metal-insulator segregated composite, which shows a rapid drop in Au (111) pole figure intensity with the addition of a few percent SiO2. We interpret this as a pinning behavior and model the results using a phase-field simulation method.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/590"],"dc:subject":["Engineering","Materials Science","Physics","Atomic","Solid State"],"dc:title":["Microstructural evolution of sputtered phase segregated metal composite thin films"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:22:31Z"}