Observation of body centered cubic Cu in Cu/Nb nanolayered composites
- Material Science and Technology Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States)
The deposition of thin alternating layers of Cu and Nb on Si(100) substrates has been studied by transmission electron microscopy as a function of layer thickness. For layer thickness above 25 {Angstrom}, there is a strong texture orientation relationship with the close packed planes of fcc Cu parallel to close packed planes of bcc Nb, forming the so-called {open_quotes}Kurdjumov-Sachs{close_quotes} orientation relationship. However, at thicknesses of under 12 {Angstrom}, the Cu is constrained to grow as a slightly distorted bcc structure. It is thought that, when it reaches a critical thickness between 12 and 20 {Angstrom}, the bcc Cu loses coherency and transforms martensitically to the fcc phase, resulting in the observed Kurdjumov{endash}Sachs orientation relationship. Electron energy loss spectroscopy observations indicate a difference of 2 eV in the L{sub 3} edge suggesting that the Fermi energy is lower in the constrained bcc form of Cu than in the equilibrium fcc structure. {copyright} {ital 1997 American Institute of Physics.}
- OSTI ID:
- 632523
- Journal Information:
- Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 15 Vol. 71; ISSN 0003-6951; ISSN APPLAB
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Occasional {open_quotes}long-range{close_quotes} nonequilibrium body-centered-cubic structures in NiFe/Cu spin valves
Microstructures and mechanical properties of sputtered Cu/Cr multilayers