When two solid metals are in contact at high temperature, interdi
usion occurs leading in some cases to the growth of intermetallic
compounds. The study of nucleation, growth and properties of these intermetallic compounds are of interest since it can be critical
for many applications in industries. Yet, the e
ect of these reactions on the initial surfaces of both metals is not well understood and
particularly when surfaces are not perfectly flat and for short contact time. The purpose of the present study is to demonstrate that
the growth of an intermetallic compound layer between to solid metals can lead to the surface reconstruction of one of them. The
silver–zirconium system will be presented in order to illustrate this new phenomenon. The e
ect of contact point on the di
usion-
reaction process has been modelled by patterning the Zr surface. The nucleation and growth of the intermetallic compounds occur
along the contact points which leads to silver surface reconstruction with the growth of the preferential crystal planes
f
111
g
ad
f
100
g
. A model explaining this new phenomenon is developed based on the minimisation of Gibbs energy and the di
usion rates af
both Ag & Zr atoms in the binary system Ag
/
Zr.