Bilayer thickness effects on nanoindentation behavior of Ag/Ni multilayers

The effects of bilayer thickness on the mechanical behavior of Ag/Ni nanomultilayers have been investigated by nanoindentation hardness and creep tests. The hardness increased with decreasing bilayer thickness, although as the bilayer thickness decreased below 8 nm there was a decrease in hardness that correlated well with increasing creep rate. The dependence of the creep rate on the bilayer thickness reveals that the grain boundary deformation is more dominant at bilayer thicknesses below 8 nm.