Elastic and transport properties of nanolayered crystalline Cu/amorphous Cu-Zr multilayers

•The change trend of conduction of Cu/CuxZr100-x multilayers is consistent with glass-forming ability of Cu-Zr metallic glasses.•The Cu/Cu50Zr50 multilayer is the best choice for “stronger-and-ductile” and exhibits the most outstanding transport properties among the series of Cu/amorphous Cu-Zr multilayers.

Elastic and transport properties of nanolayered crystalline Cu/amorphous Cu–Zr multilayers with intrinsic layer thickness (0.5 nm) have been comprehensively investigated by First-principle calculations. The results indicate that the conduction of Cu/CuxZr100-x multilayers generally increases with the increasing of the concentration of Cu (at.%) at the range of x < 50 in the amorphous layer. When x > 50, the conduction of Cu/CuxZr100-x multilayers decreases as x increases. Although all of Cu/CuxZr100-x multilayers exhibit ultrahigh strength, the Cu/Cu50Zr50 multilayer is the best choice for “stronger-and-ductile” and exhibits the most outstanding transport properties among the series of Cu/amorphous Cu-Zr multilayers.

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