Surface phonons in periodic and Fibonacci Nb/Cu superlattices

Elastic Properties of FeNi/Cu and FeNi/Nb Metallic Superlattices Investigated by Brillouin Light Scattering

The Brillouin light scattering technique has been exploited in order to investigate the elastic properties of periodic superlattices consisting of alternating layers of Fe20Ni80 (permalloy) and either Cu or Nb. These multilayers, with total thicknesses ranging between 0.2 and 0.7 mm and with periods of typically 3-5 nm, present a polycrystalline structure with (110) texture for the Nb layers and (111) texture for both the FeNi and Cu layers. Measurement of the frequency position of the Brillouin peaks corresponding to the Rayleigh and Sezawa acoustic modes allowed the effective elastic constants of these structures to be determined. The values obtained are compared with those calculated from the elastic constants of the bulk materials, taking into account the polycrystalline nature of the superlattices and the crystallographic orientation of the layers.