Formation of ordered arrays of metal clusters by annealing of nm-period metal carbon multilayer films

The excess of Gibbs free energy stored in the initial state of metal/carbon multilayer films produced by pulsed laser deposition is used to induce phase transitions by thermal activation. The clustering of the nickel layers in Ni/C multilayers caused by annealing is reported as a result of X-ray diffraction and reflectivity measurements and TEM observations. A theoretical approach to the problem of phase separation and transformation in superthin films is given.