RESIDUAL-STRESSES AND MICROSTRUCTURE OF AG-NI MULTILAYERS

A direct determination of residual stresses in very-low-period Ag-Ni multilayers has been performed by x-ray diffraction using the sin 2ψ method. Stresses in silver layers as thin as three atomic planes and in nickel layers as thin as four atomic planes could be determined. They range from -3.07 to 0.522 GPa, and their genesis excludes any interfacial coherency relationship. The variation of the multilayer microstructure with respect to the period has been studied by measurement of the stress free lattice parameter and microdistortions. Important deviations with respect to the bulk microstructure have been observed and discussed. © 1994 American Institute of Physics.