RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STRUCTURAL PHASE-TRANSITIONS AND ELASTIC ANOMALIES IN METALLIC SUPERLATTICES

A detailed study of the structural and elastic properties of Fe/Cu sup erlattices has been performed. These superlattices exhibit a structura l phase transition as a function of layer thickness in which bcc alpha -Fe transforms into fcc gamma-Fe. This structural phase transition in which the Fe layers become coherent with the Cu layers is signaled by clear-cut changes in elastic and magnetic properties. The elastic prop erties studied through this transition indicate that in-plane coherenc y plays an important role in the elastic behavior of metallic superlat tices.