Asymmetric intermixing in Co/Ti bilayer

Recently we have studied the ion mixing of mass-anisotropic bilayer and found strong asymmetry depending on the succession of the layers [P. Süle, M. Menyhárd, L. Kótis, J. Lábár, W.F. Egelhoff Jr., J. Appl. Phys. 101 (2007) 043502]. The finding was explained by the mass difference of the constituents. To check the validity of explanation we studied the interface broadening of Co/Ti and Ti/Co bilayers due to low-energy ion bombardment. We have applied Auger electron spectroscopy depth profiling and molecular dynamics simulation to determine the intermixing. Since the Co/Ti system is nearly mass isotropic the ballistic intermixing mechanism can be ruled out and no asymmetry is expected. In contrary to the expectation both methods showed asymmetry of intermixing at bombardment of 2 keV ion energy. The asymmetry vanishes progressively with decreasing ion energy. We suggest that atomic size-anisotropy could play some role in the enhancement of interdiffusion of Co in Ti.