Large strain synergetic material deformation enabled by hybrid nanolayer architectures

Nanolayered metallic composites are much stronger than pure nanocrystalline metals due to their high density of hetero-interfaces. However, they are usually mechanically instable due to the deformation incompatibility among the soft and hard constituent layers promoting shear instability. Here we designed a hybrid material with a heterogeneous multi-nanolayer architecture. It consists of alternating 10 nm and 100 nm-thick Cu/Zr bilayers which deform compatibly in both stress and strain by utilizing the layers’ intrinsic strength, strain hardening and thickness, an effect referred to as synergetic deformation. Micropillar tests show that the 6.4 GPa-hard 10 nm Cu/Zr bilayers and the 3.3 GPa 100 nm Cu layers deform in a compatible fashion up to 50% strain. Shear instabilities are entirely suppressed. Synergetic strengthening of 768 MPa (83% increase) compared to the rule of mixture is observed, reaching a total strength of 1.69 GPa. We present a model that serves as a design guideline for such synergetically deforming nano-hybrid materials.