Deformation behavior and strengthening mechanism of CuTa/CuTa amorphous/amorphous nanomultilayers

•The interference of the interface to shear band movement leads to an increase in tensile strength.•The direct interaction of shear transformation regions results in a decrease in tensile strength.•Numerous shear bands pass through the interfaces and interact with each other leading to enhanced ductility.•The shear bands focus locally on soft amorphous layers causing shear softening and sample damage.