Equilibrium solid solubility of silicon in silver

The equilibrium solubility of silicon in silver was measured in the range between 300 C and the eutectic temperature using both an electron microprobe and the evolution of electrical resistivity of a near-eutectic Ag-4 wt pct Si alloy. The silver matrix was found to dissolve up to 0.93 at. pct Si, at 836 degreesC. The resistivity was found to increase on average by 4.31 muOmegacm/at. pct solute content of Si in the silver matrix. The solubility of silicon in silver is well described by an Arrhenius-type equation, with an apparent enthalpy of mixing of 74.7 kJ/mol and a prefactor of 30.6 (3060 at. pct). This finite terminal solubility of silicon in silver can account for a discrepancy between the calculated and experimental silver-silicon binary-phase diagrams, as present in the literature.