INTERESTING RESISTIVITY BEHAVIOR OF THE Ag–Ni–Si SILICIDE FILMS FORMED AT 850°C BY RAPID THERMAL ANNEALING OF THE Ag–Ni/Si FILMS

The temperature-dependent resistivity measurements of our Ag – Ni – Si silicide films with 51–343 nm thicknesses are studied as a function of temperature and film thickness over the temperature range of 100–900 K. The most striking behavior is that the variation of the resistivity of the Ag – Ni – Si silicide films with temperature exhibits an unusual temperature-dependent behavior with respect to those of the transition and untransition metals. Our measurements show that the total resistivity of the Ag – Ni – Si silicide films increases linearly with temperature up to a Tm temperature at which resistivity reaches a maximum thereafter Tm decreases rapidly and finally to zero at ~850 K. Tm temperature is found to decrease with decreasing film thickness. We have shown that in the temperature range of 100-Tm K, electron–phonon resistivity and grain boundary resistivity components responsible for the total resistivity increase. But the grain boundary scattering is dominant mechanism for the resistivity increase in our Ag – Ni – Si silicide films.