INTERFACE MIXING ENERGY - A MEASURE OF INTERFACE STABILITY

As a measure of the thermodynamic stability of metallic interfaces, an interface mixing energy (IFME) is defined and calculated by: means of a first-principles Green's-function technique for different interface s of Au/Ag and Cu/Ni. We show that the IFME is a directional dependent quantity and the results of our calculations are analyzed in terms of an Ising model. The ratio between the interface and bulk mixing energ y is shown to be a valuable quantity that makes it possible to use ava ilable bulk data to estimate interface stabilities.