Metal films such as Al, Au, Cu, and Pd exhibit an intermixing reaction at room temperature with semiconductors of energy gaps ( E g ) of less than ∼2.5 eV or dielectric constants (∈) larger than ∼8. The semiconductors are mostly covalent ones. A model of the mechanism, especially the triggering mechanism, of this room temperature interfacial intermixing reaction is proposed. One of the bases of the model is the consideration of the role of metal on the covalent semiconductor from the theoretical view point to induce instability in the cohesive mechanism resulting in facilitating the reaction. The other is our slow deposition experiment of Au film onto Si (111) surface in ultrahigh vacuum.
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Akio Hiraki (1980) studied this question.