Towards the epitaxial growth of silver on germanium by galvanic displacement

This work focuses on the synthesis and interfacial characterization of silver films grown on Ge(111) surfaces. The synthetic approach uses galvanic displacement, a type of electroless deposition that takes place in an efficient manner under aqueous and room temperature conditions. The case of silver-on-germanium has been widely studied and used for several applications, and yet a number of important fundamental questions remain in order to address the nature of these interfaces. Interfacial characterization reveals no evidence for the intermetallic nature of Ag-Ge interfaces and suggests the diffusion of silver into the germanium substrate. The texture nature of the grown silver films was investigated via pole figure X-ray diffraction (XRD) and cross-section nano-beam-diffraction transmission electron microscope (TEM) analyses, indicating the epitaxial growth of silver films on germanium lattices by galvanic displacement at ambient conditions.