Evidence of metastable hcp phase grains in as-deposited nanocrystalline nickel films

Precession microscopy is applied to determine the morphology of pulsed laser deposited and unannealed Ni films. The nanostructure of these films, nominally 50 nm in thickness, is heterogeneous and comprised predominantly of face-centered cubic (fcc)-Ni phase with regions of 〈1 0 1〉fcc, 〈1 1 2〉fcc and 〈0 0 1〉fcc fiber texture. Metastable hexagonal close-packed (hcp)-Ni phase grains approximately 8.5 nm in size are also present, and there is compelling evidence that local texture of the predominant fcc-Ni phase facilitates the formation and resulting texture of the metastable counterpart.