Influence of Ti on wetting of AlN by Ni-base alloys

Pure Ni at its melting point does not wet AlN, the contact angle being higher than 90°. The aim of this study is to define Ni-based alloys leading to low wetting contact angles, fast spreading and low reactivity. In order to achieve these purposes, two alloying elements are used. The first is Ti, which is expected to improve wetting by forming wettable titanium nitride at the Ni alloy/AlN interface. The second is Si, which is added in order to decrease the reactivity by lowering the alloy melting point.Experiments are performed in high vacuum by the sessile drop technique. The morphology and chemistry of interfacial reaction products are characterised by SEM and X-ray microanalysis. The results of wetting kinetics are analysed using the recently developed reactive spreading model.