Graded nanostructures produced by sliding and exhibiting universal behavior.

Nanostructured copper was produced by deformation under large sliding loads. In the near surface layers, 10 nm scale microstructures form and coarsen with increasing depth from the surface. The graded structure enables characterization of the structural scale over several orders of magnitude. Analysis reveals that universal scaling of the microstructure exists from 10,000 to 10 nm. The limit of scale is pushed to an order of magnitude of the ultimate scale at which the crystallinity is lost. This universality opens the door for easy manufacture of ever finer scale components by deformation.