Epitaxy and morphology of deposited α-Fe films on high-index planes of Cu substrates

Abstract
Thin α-Fe films were deposited onto the high-index planes {212}, {103}, {113}, {203} and {213} of Cu substrates. Multiple epitaxial relationships were found to exist in each substrate specimen. However, the α-Fe planes of the deposited layer were always related to the Cu substrate planes by the Bain correspondence. Particular growth directions of the α-Fe films parallel to 〈110〉 on the Cu substrates were observed for the {212} and {113} substrate specimens. Simple geometrical criteria proposed previously to explain the epitaxial relationships between low-index planes are also highly applicable to the prediction of the epitaxies between high-index planes. Three-dimensional orientation relationships, rather than two-dimensional orientation relationships at the interface, must be considered in order to understand the crystallography and morphology of the α-Fe films.