Structural and elastic properties of magnetron-sputtered fcc-Co/Au(1 1 1) multilayers as a function of Au layer thickness

A series of Si(1 0 0)/SiNx(75 nm)/[Co(1 nm)/Au(tAu)]30 multilayers has been prepared with magnetron sputtering. The samples were examined with ex situ X-ray diffraction and the collected spectra were fitted using the suprex refinement program. The structural parameters obtained were in good agreement with recent investigation by means of transmission and high-resolution microscopy. The X-ray analysis was used to estimate the strain profile as a function of the Au layer thickness in the (1 1 1) frame of reference and comparison with theoretical models relating the strain with the satellites intensities ratio is discussed.