Abstract
Recent x-ray measurements have revealed surface crystallization in the liquid eutecticAu0.82Si0.18 alloy accompanied by a pronounced surface-induced layering with a thickness of seven toeight well-defined atomic layers. For the crystalline surface monolayer a stoichiometry ofAuSi2 has been determined, implying a strong Si surface enrichment. In this study we haveanalysed the composition at the interface with vacuum of the solid and liquid eutectic alloyby means of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Evaluation of the XPS spectra usinga homogeneous interface model and an inhomogeneous interface model clearly indicates astrong interfacial enrichment of Si in agreement with the x-ray measurements. In aninterfacial layer of 2 nm thickness the average Si concentration is nearly three times largerthan that in the bulk. However, the XPS spectra give evidence for a low concentration(∼3 at.%) of oxide impurities at the interface—in all probabilitySiO2—which raises the question of whether surface crystallization in this alloy is surface-induced or drivenby SiO2 nucleation centres.
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