A simple process, involving a controlled temperature gradient on the surface of the substrate during the deposition of a thin film is described. This technique is similar to zone-refining but produces chains of impurity free grains. Simultaneously, dopants and other defects are confined to the grain boundaries separating two such chains. For a small temperature gradient only preferred orientation is obtained within a chain. For medium values of temperature gradient the grain boundaries within a chain are engineered to be either on a low energy coincidence site lattice (CSL) or a twin depending on the magnitude of gradient. For high magnitudes of temperature gradient, the chain is predicted to be a single crystal strip.