Effects of thin interlayers on Ag/(HgCd)Te interface behavior

The interactions between cleaved (HgCd)Te substrates and Ag overlayers with and without monolayer interlayers of Sb, Al, and Ti (unreactive, reactive, and ultrareactive metals, respectively) have been investigated with photoelectron spectroscopy using synchrotron radition. The Sb interlayer reduces, but does not eliminate, the indiffusion of Ag observed with no interlayer. In addition, a synergism between the Sb and the Ag allows a partial exchange reaction with the HgTe component to occur. Although the Al interlayer prevents Ag indiffusion in the very initial stages of deposition (0.2--0.5 nm), neither it nor the Ti interlayer reduces the indiffusion at higher coverages and little Ag accumulates at the surface