Molecular dynamics simulation of nanoindentation on amorphous/amorphous nanolaminates

•The effect of layer thickness on hardness is investigated in amorphous nanolaminates.•There is a strong length-scale-dependence mechanical property of the nanolaminates.•With an increasing of h, the deformation mechanism is dominated by surface layer.•The influence of interface on the expansion of shear deformation is demonstrated. The nanoindentation deformation behaviors of Cu80Zr20 (A)/Cu20Zr80 (B) amorphous/amorphous nanolaminates were studied by using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, aiming to investigate the effects of heterogeneous interface and layer thickness on the hardness. It was found that there is a strong length-scale-dependence for the mechanical properties of amorphous/amorphous nanolaminates. There is a critical range of layer thickness h (~1 nm