Multi-layered thin films with a range of bi-layer thicknesses were prepared by means of direct-current magnetron sputtering and were characterized by means of transmission electron microscopy and high-resolution electron microscopy. A series of structural transitions, in the form of changes in the stacking sequence of the close-packed atomic planes of the Ti and Al layers, were observed as a function of the bi-layer thickness.

R.Banerjee, R.Ahuja, H.L.Fraser: Physical Review Letters, 1996, 76[20], 3778-81