Solid phase equilibria in the Au-Ga-As, Au-Ga-Sb, Au-In-As, and Au-In-Sb ternaries

The Au-Ga-As, Au-Ga-Sb, Au-In-As, and Au-In-Sb ternaries were surveyed using x-ray powder diffraction to determine which metallic phases exist at equilibrium with the III-V compound semiconductors. In closed, small-volume systems (i.e., formation of gas-phase products was prevented), Au does not react with GaAs but does react with the other III-V's investigated to produce Au-group III intermetallic compounds and another solid phase containing the group V element. However, each semiconductor formed pseudobinary systems with at least two different intermetallic compounds. The bulk phase diagrams determined in this study provide frameworks within which much of the experimental data in the literature concerning the products of reactions at Au/III-V interfaces can be understood.