ELECTRICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF MONOCRYSTALLINE AND POLYCRYSTALLINE TRANSITION METAL SILICIDES.

Electrical resistivity ( rho ) in the temperature range of 2 to 1100 K of polycrystalline thin films and pure monocrystalline TaSi//2 and WSi//2 were investigated. These disilicides are metallic, yet there is a remarkable difference in their residual resistivity values and in the temperature dependence of their intrinsic resistivities. Furthermore the anisotropy of rho is remarkable, about 97% at room temperature for TaSi//2, while it is negligible ( approximately equals 9%) for WSi//2 and the room temperature resistivity value of WSi//2 is one of the smallest as compared to other monocrystalline disilicides. These considerations and the fact that the residual resistivity of WSi//2 thin films is quite high with a very small temperature dependent part, suggest that the room temperature resistivity of WSi//2 thin film can be greatly reduced by improving the quality of the film. This has been achieved by using rapid thermal annealing.