Agglomeration at Si/Au interfaces: A study with spatially resolved Auger line-shape spectroscopy

Abstract

The first application of spatially resolved Auger line-shape analysis to an inhomogeneous metalsemiconductor interface [thermally agglomerated Si(111)-Au] is presented. The results show that the agglomeration process cannot be simply described as the separation between two immiscible components; an intermixed Si-Au skin is always present on top of the metal islands where a chemical interaction between Si and Au takes place.