Abstract
The properties of films and coatings can be optimized for a variety of applications by modifying their texture. Understanding how the texture in thin films is formed and how it can be controlled during film growth process is one of the most important areas of texture research. Several examples were selected to illustrate how the texture in films and coatings is developed and to explain how various properties of films are affected by texture. In particular, texture development during electrodeposition of Zn-based automobile coatings, Ni and Ni-based layers for magnetic recording as well as Fe and Fe-based wearresistant coatings, is presented. A new area of application of texture research to control the high-temperature oxidation resistance of engineering materials is described. Using experimental data for Ni and Ti, the factors affecting texture formation during growth of ceramic oxides are discussed, with special attention paid to the role of substrate texture. The correlation between the oxide texture, grain boundary structure and diffusion of metal and oxygen ions at high temperatures, is considered.