Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 February 2011
Atom by atom deposition techniques, such as magnetron sputtering, make possible the synthesis of artificial superlattices with composition modulations in one dimension on an atomic scale[1]. Generaily, elastic effects (lattice mismatch) and chemical affinity (ordering or clustering tendencies are recognized as the most important driving forces for the thermodynamic stability of such materials. In this study the chemical aspect of stability will be examined using a formalism based on first-principles electronic structure calculations developed originally for bulk alloys. The formalism has been applied to a number of systems with fee and bec transition metals as constituents. In some cases the stability of artificial superlattices was found to depend in a rather surprising and unexpected way on the direction and wavelength of the composition modulation.