Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 February 2011
A method of investigating thin film crystallographic texture by electron diffraction is reviewed. The reciprocal lattices of fibrous and lamellar textured thin films are spherical belts around the texture axis. Equations describing the projection of the spherical belts onto the Ewald sphere along the texture axis direction are presented. Based on these equations the geometric and intensity evolution of the electron diffraction patterns with the tilt angle about an arbitrary axis in the film plane can be analyzed in a systematic way. The geometric characteristics of the electron diffraction patterns are then used to derive the texture axis directional index and its angular distribution. The way to determine the equal-intensity circular arcs on the diffraction pattern is also discussed. This method can be applied to both single layered and multilayered thin films of various applications.