Ni/Al multilayer films with macro- and nanoscale morphology have attracted interest due to their high interface density and high amount of stored chemical energy. Most studies were performed using slow heating rates in the solid state or upon ignition (self-sustaining high-temperature synthesis) in the semi-liquid solid state that follows a thermal shock via an electrical spark or a mechanical shock.

For these multilayer film systems, there is a lack of experiments for the intermediate heating rate range and only selected data have been measured with sophisticated in-situ experiments. In the present study, the new commercially available fast differential scanning calorimeter (FDSC) Mettler-Toledo (MT) FDSC 2+ allowed calorimetric measurements up to 10000 K s^-1. Together with conventional DSC experiments, calorimetric data were obtained for heating rates over a range of five orders of magnitude. These allows to determine the apparent activation energies of all apparent exothermic events such as interdiffusion and the intermetallic phase formation or growth.

All calorimetric experiments are complemented by microstructural and morphological characterization (XRD, high energy XRD, STEM). Overall, results will be presented on Ni/Al multilayers with different bilayer thicknesses (Λ = 20 nm, 50 nm, 100 nm, 200 nm) and overall compositions, namely Ni₄₀Al₆₀ (in at.-%), Ni₆₀Al₄₀ (only Λ = 20 nm, 50 nm) and Ni₅₀Al₅₀ (all bilayer thicknesses).