Elastic constants of metal-insulator superlattices

A Brillouin scattering study of elastic properties of NbN/AlN superlattices is presented. Because the coupling of light to surface waves in this system is very weak, we describe a modification of the technique which enhances the scattering efficiency, thereby allowing measurements of a system which is otherwise inaccessible. This particular multilayer superlattice is one of the very few that does not exhibit any elastic anomalies as a function of layer thickness in accordance with the idea that electron transfer may be the mechanism responsible for elastic anomalies in superlattices.