Limits of ultra-thin multilayers by pulsed vacuum arc deposition

Nanocomposite multilayers at length scales ranging from a few to hundreds of angstroms were fabricated by pulsed vacuum arc deposition. The structure and composition of the Fe/C multilayers and interface morphology were studied by means of cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (XTEM). It was shown that very uniform thin 100-period Fe/C multilayers (bilayer periods of 3.1 nm) were prepared with flat and smooth interfaces in the sub-nanometer range at room temperature. However, intermixing between the Fe and C layers was observed for the multilayers with bilayer periods smaller than approximately 2.5 nm.