Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 February 2011
Films of Nb3Sn vapor deposited at low rates and high temperatures on (1102) sapphire form an epitaxial <100> single crystal matrix with a domain structure of misoriented regions bounded by low-angle dislocation boundaries. Nucleation of other orientations at the interface result in a highly oriented but polycrystalline film through approximately the first thousand Angstroms of film thickness. After this point random orientations become overgrown by epitaxial <100> regions. At slightly lower temperatures many small <100> grains with a second epitaxial relationship also nucleate at the interface. These rotated grains persist through greater thicknesses than random orientations. The misorientation defect structure of the single crystal matrix is analyzed by transmission electron microscopy.