The role of compound formation in reactive wetting: the Cu/SiC system Original Research Article

Wettability and reactivity in the liquid Cu/SiC couple are studied by the sessile drop technique in high vacuum or purified helium using monocrystalline or sintered α-SiC. This couple exhibits a very unusual wetting behaviour. Particularly, during spreading, an amazing drop shape is established and, for specific conditions, “hexagonal wetting” is observed. We show that these observations can be correctly explained using the concepts of reactive wetting developed recently.