  Practical applications of nanocrystalline metallic thin films are often
limited by instabilities. In addition to grain growth, the thin film itself can
become unstable and collapse into islands through solid-state dewetting.
Selective alloying can improve nanocrystalline stability, but the impact of
this approach on dewetting is not clear. In this study, two alloys that exhibit
nanocrystalline thermal stability as ball milled powders are evaluated as thin
films. While both alloys demonstrated dewetting behavior following annealing,
the severity decreased in more dilute compositions. Ultimately, a balance may
be struck between nanocrystalline stability and thin film structural stability
by tuning dopant concentration.
