Palladium diffusion in germanium

Palladium diffusion in germanium is fundamentally and technologically important as it has an extremely low activation energy and this can impact metal induced lateral crystallisation to produce large grain crystals. Recent theoretical studies calculated that the activation energy of migration of palladium in germanium is 0.03 eV. This constitute the experimental determination of the palladium diffusion properties very difficult. In the present study we calculate palladium diffusivity in germanium by employing theoretical results and comparing to the diffusion of copper in germanium. Finally, by employing a thermodynamic model we derive a relation describing palladium diffusivity to bulk materials properties.