Elastic constants of face-centered-cubic cobalt

The wave vector dependence of Rayleigh and higher order Sezawa elastic waves in single crystalline epitaxial face-centered-cubic (fcc) Co layers are measured by Brillouin light scattering at room temperature. The dispersion of the mode velocities allows the independent elastic constants to be determined for this cubic phase of cobalt. These results compare very favorably to previous determinations of the elastic constants measured above 700 K from the high-temperature fcc phase of pure Co. Deviations from theoretical estimates are discussed.