Burgers vector types and the dislocation structures in sputter-deposited Cu–Nb multilayers

The dislocation density and the Burgers vector population are determined within the Cu and Nb layers in highly textured sputter-deposited Cu–Nb multilayers by X-ray line profile analysis. The measurements are conducted with films on and off the substrates and by orienting the films in the Eulerian cradle for acquiring the h k l reflections corresponding to planes of the major texture component. The analysis reveals a nearly constant total dislocation density in the Cu layers in all the samples measured where the layer thickness varies from 20 nm to 75 nm, whereas in the Nb layers the dislocation density decreases slightly with increasing layer thickness. The overwhelming majority of the prevailing Burgers vectors of dislocations are oriented parallel to the interface planes of the multilayers.