Significant texture improvement in single-crystalline-like materials on low-cost flexible metal foils through growth of silver thin films

Low texture spreads of single-crystalline-like materials are critical for high performance of low-cost flexible semiconductors and second-generation high-temperature superconductors based on metal foils. For texture improvement, a single-crystalline-like Ag film is epitaxially grown on an ion-beam-assisted deposition TiN substrate using magnetron sputtering. Ultra-low texture spreads are found in the thin Ag film (∼330 nm), with an out-of-plane texture spread (Δω) of ∼1.03° and an in-plane texture spread (Δϕ) of ∼1.34°. Compared with the texture spreads of the TiN substrate, Δω and Δϕ of the Ag film are reduced by ∼42 and ∼79%, respectively. Applying this Ag buffer, the texture spreads of a single-crystalline-like Ge film are reduced by ∼37% (Δω) and ∼36% (Δϕ). Factors contributing to the texture improvement by Ag are studied using single-crystalline-like Ag films with various thicknesses.