First phase nucleation in silicon–transition-metal planar interfaces

Abstract

What is the first compound that nucleates in planar solid silicon–transition‐metal binary couple reactions whose members form bulk equilibrium compounds? We propose, for couples annealed at low temperatures, the following simple rule: The first compound nucleated in planar binary reaction couples is the most stable congruently melting compound adjacent to the lowest‐temperature eutectic on the bulk equilibrium phase diagram. The predictions of this rule are compared with experimental results.