Dislocation mediated melting of silicon-metal interfaces

It is known that the silicide formation between silicon and transition as well as noble metals occurs at 0.3–0.4 of the melting temperature of silicon. It is proposed that the chemical reaction is preceded by an interfacial melting process due to dislocation generation via the Kösterlitz-Thouless mechanism. The overall softening of the Debye temperature at the interface leads to the low temperature chemical reaction observed. A softening mechanism due to screening of the silicon lattice by the metal overlayer is suggested.