Reaction of titanium with germanium and silicon-germanium alloys

Abstract

The reaction of Ti with pure Ge and several Ge-Si alloys has been investigated with the double aim of understanding the reaction with Ge and of throwing some light on the still vexing problem of the Ti-Si reaction. With pure Ge one observes first of all the formation of Ti6Ge5 until complete consumption of the Ti is present. This is followed by the clearly identifiable nucleation of TiGe2, initially forming islands that grow laterally. With a 50-50 (at. %) alloy of Si and Ge, one still observes distinct growth steps, but there is overlap between the growth of the initial phase, and the nucleation and growth of Ti(Ge,Si)2.