Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 February 2011
The mechanical properties of metallic superlattices have been shown to exhibit anomalous properties. Several of the elastic constants are found to exhibit anomalies which are correlated with structural anomalies in lattice mismatched systems which do not form solid solutions. Lattice matched systems which form solid solutions in their thermodynamics phase diagram, show much smaller elastic anomalies and no structural anomalies. Anomalous plastic behavior, on the other hand, seems to be present in both types of superlattices, indicating that the plastic behavior is possibly defect induced. Detailed quantitative structural measurements combined with comprehensive mechanical properties hold the promise of determining the physical origins of the anomalous properties of metallic superlattices.