Thin Sb films with a thickness gradient deposited in vacuum were investigated by transmission electron microscopy. Microstructures in films with increasing thickness change from amorphous islands of increasing density and size to labyrinthine and continuous films with texturing, which also changes with increasing thickness. Based on the analysis of the patterns of bend extinction contours, a strong internal bending of the crystal lattice, up to 120 deg/μm, and the dependence of the crystallographic orientations in the structures of the film on the thickness were revealed.

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