The effect of metals (Au, Ag) and oxidizing ambient on interfacial reactions in Au/Si and Ag/Si systems

Deposited metal layers on single crystal silicon can react at low temperature in an oxidizing ambient to produce silicon oxide. Akio Hiraki carried out the pioneering work in the early 1970s at California Institute of Technology. In this study Au/Si is revisited and compared with the Ag/Si system. Under oxidizing ambient conditions where oxide layers are formed in the Au/Si, no detectable oxide layers are formed in the Ag/Si system. The Ag layers agglomerates into a discontinuous film.