To obtain a deeper understanding of the mechanism of plastic deformation and failure in superhard nanocomposites and heterostructures we studied, by means of the ab initio density functional theory, the stress-strain response and the change of the electronic structure during tensile and shear deformation of a prototype interfacial systems consisting of 1 monolayer SiN sandwiched between a few nm thick TiN layers. This shows that peak Friedel oscillations of valence charge density weaken the Ti-N interplanar bonds next to that interface, where decohesion in tension and slip in shear occurs. These results provide ways to design new, stronger and harder materials.

• Received 14 August 2008

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.015503