<p>β-(Au, Cu, Al) shape memory thin films are promising materials for micro-scale actuator applications. In this study, the structural analysis of β-Au₅₂Cu₃₅Al₁₃ shape memory thin films is complicated because of the strong &lt; 022 &gt; _β fiber-texture that obscured most of the diffraction peaks. To unravel the structure of the phases, a multi-axial XRD analysis was performed by collecting 2θ–θ scans at different sample tilt angles (χ) and the data were collated into 2D maps (χ-2θ) to reveal the hidden peaks. From the χ-2θ maps, the martensite (M) phase was confirmed at room temperature and the parent (P) phase at 150&#xa0;°C. The parent phase was indexed as an L2₁ structure while the martensite phase is nominally body-centered tetragonal (bct). The presence of additional peaks in the martensite phase suggests that it is modulated to a 4M or 4O structure. The phase transformation behavior was investigated in detail by in situ heating–cooling in XRD between 40 and 130&#xa0;°C. The phase transformation is completely reversible with transformation temperatures of 80&#xa0;°C (<i>M</i>_<i>s</i>) and 100&#xa0;°C (<i>A</i>_<i>f</i>) and a transformation hysteresis of 20&#xa0;K. The residual stress evolution during the phase transformation revealed a stress relaxation and recovery of about 300 MPa, validating its suitability for micro-actuator applications.</p>