A thin polycrystalline film attached to a bulk substrate of different thermal expansion coefficient will experience a thermal strain when the temperature is changed. Calculations of the strain energies for various grain orientations relative to the film surface were made for an FCC polycrystalline film on a substrate. Results show that prior to yielding, the four lowest strain energy densities correspond to grains with (100), (511), (310) and (311) planes oriented parallel to the plane of the film In a yielded film, the four lowest strain energy densities correspond to the grains with (110), (100), (511) and (211) planes oriented parallel to the plane of the film. From strain energy minimization, grains with (100), (511), (310) and (311) or (110), (100), (511) and (211) planes oriented parallel to the plane of the film should be favorable in an attached FCC-polycrystalline film after annealing, depending on the degree of deformation of the film. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.