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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 March 2011
We studied long-range orientational ordering in polycrystalline Au films (10 nm - 30 nm) that are evaporated at oblique incidence onto a glass substrate at room temperature. By measuring the averaged optical second-harmonic response from the films over a 6-mm diameter region, we observed a transition from the expected in-plane mirror symmetry at 10 nm to a surprising three-fold in-plane rotational symmetry at 30 nm. X-ray pole figure analysis performed on these films showed the strong <111> fiber texture typical of fcc films, but with a restricted, three-fold symmetric, distribution of crystallite orientations about the fiber axis.