Structural and elastic properties of transition-metal superlattices

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Abstract
We have calculated the equilibrium geometries and elastic properties of transition-metal superlattices (Cu-Ni, Cu-Pd, and Cu-Au) over a range of composition modulation wavelengths for both slab-layered systems (with alternating equal-width slabs of the constituents) and for systems with a sinusoidally modulated composition. The energies and equilibrium geometries were obtained with the embedded-atom method and the elastic constants were determined both by considering appropriate sums over the dynamical matrix and by calculating the energy of specific deformations of the unit cell. No enhancements of the elastic constants or moduli were found for any of the systems considered, in agreement with recent experimental results.