Molecular dynamics simulation of uniaxial deformation of thin Cu film and Al-Cu heterostructure

The paper discusses the effect of free surfaces and interfaces on mechanical characteristics of a thin Cu film and an Al-Cu film heterostructure. It is shown that the interface of the cyclically deformed Al-Cu heterostructure evolves from a chessboard distribution with a period dependent on the degree of inconsistency of the material lattice constants to anew more energy-beneficial distribution of hillocks and dimples with spatial scales dependent on the film thickness and specimen dimensions.