Non-reactive versus dissolutive wetting of Ag–Cu alloys on Cu substrates

The fundamental issues of equilibrium and non-equilibrium (dissolutive) wetting and spreading in the liquid Ag/solid Cu system are studied by the dispensed drop technique. To this end, wetting experiments of Cu, both mono- and poly-crystalline, with two types of Ag–Cu alloys, one non-saturated and the other saturated in copper, are performed at 900 °C in high vacuum by the dispensed drop technique. The results are compared with those given in the literature for the same or similar systems as well as with model predictions.