Twin Boundaries Can Be Moved by Step Edges During Film Growth

We track individual twin boundaries in Ag films on Ru(0001) using low-energy electron microscopy. The twin boundaries, which separate film regions whose close-packed planes are stacked differently, move readily during film growth but relatively little during annealing. The growth-driven motion of twin boundaries occurs as film steps advance across the surface—as a new atomic Ag layer reaches an fcc twin boundary, the advancing step edge carries along the boundary. This coupling of the microstructural defect (twin boundary) and the surface step during growth can produce film regions over 10  μm wide that are twin free.