Deposition of copper, silver and gold from aqueous solutions ontogermanium substrates via galvanic displacement

Deposition of copper, silver and gold from aqueous solutions onto germanium substrates is studied inthis work. For this purpose both acidic and alkaline solutions were used. All investigated metals cansuccessfully be deposited via the galvanic displacement reaction. These deposits are porous and withdifferent surface morphologies which depended on the type (p- or n-) of the Ge substrate used in theexperiments and on pH. Prolonged times of immersion of Ge substrates into investigated solutions maylead to a formation of more porous coatings and even powders, as successfully demonstrated on theexample of silver. It is believed that the approach presented in this work should further be investigatedas an activation step for a possible metallization of Ge substrates via autocatalytic or electrodepositionmethods.