Strengthening mechanisms of Ag/Ni immiscible multilayers with fcc/fcc interface

We investigate the microstructure and mechanical properties of sputtered face-centered cubic (fcc) Ag/Ni multilayers with varying individual layer thickness h of 1–200 nm deposited on Si (100) and Si (111) substrates. Both multilayer systems have similar < 111 > fiber texture with predominantly incoherent Ag/Ni interfaces. Superlattice structure arises when h decreases to less than 5 nm. Indentation hardness of both Ag/Ni systems shows similar significant size dependence when h > 3 nm. Strengthening mechanisms in Ag/Ni systems are discussed and compared to those in Cu/Ni and Ag/Cu systems with fcc/fcc interfaces.