Microstructural study of an oscillatory formation reaction in nanostructured reactive multilayer foils

We report evidence of an oscillatory formation reaction in nanostructured Zr∕Al∕(CuNi) reactive multilayer foils. The oscillations create periodic ripples on the surface of the foil as well as periodic variations in the length scale of the microstructure of the reacted foil. We describe the nature of the resulting microstructure, and relate this to superadiabatic temperature oscillations at the reaction front. We also examine the effect of ambient temperature on the magnitude and period of the oscillations, and compare the results to numerical predictions and to experimental data for other reactive systems.