ROLE OF HETERODIFFUSION IN ADHESION OF FRESHLY FORMED SILICON AND GERMANIUM SURFACES TO METALS.

An investigation was made of the adhesion of elemental semiconductors (Si and Ge) to metals (Al, Pb, In, Cd). Direct contact between freshly cleaved (111) semiconductor surfaces and metal surfaces formed by mechanical fracture in 5 multiplied by 10** minus **8 mm Hg vacuum produced room-temperature joints whose strength exceeded that of the metal component. It was concluded that freshly prepared silicon, germanium, and metal surfaces had unsaturated chemical bonds and a mechanically strong joint resulted from the real contact between such surfaces as a result of interaction ( ″mating″ ) of the first monatomic semiconductor and metal layers due to surface forces. These results are relevant to semiconductor-metal contacts in devices.