Despite the technological importance of nanostructured materials, mass transport phenomena, such as diffusion and reaction, at interfaces were still poorly understood when nano-scale distances or short diffusion times were involved. Some typical examples were presented here concerning (i) the initial stages of intermixing in a metallic Ni/Cu(111) heterostructure, (ii) the effect of biaxial stress on the diffusion of Sb in Si/Si1-xGex heterostructures and (iii) the influence of a Pt addition on the reaction sequence at a Ni(Pt)/Si interface. It was shown that there were some surprising nano-scale effects, such as: (a) layer-by-layer dissolution instead of total intermixing, (b) increase in diffusion coefficients by a biaxial compression for a vacancy-mediated dopant and (c) stabilization in a large temperature domain of a non-equilibrium Ni(Pt)/Si interface.

Reaction and Diffusion at Interfaces of Micro- and Nanostructured Materials. P.Gas, C.Girardeaux, D.Mangelinck, A.Portavoce: Materials Science and Engineering B, 2003, 101[1-3], 43-8