Electrical characterization of alloy thin films of VSi2 and V3Si

In situ resistivity measurement was used to study the crystallization and the electrical conduction processes of V3Si and VSi2 thin films as a function of temperature. The films were deposited by dual-electron-beam coevaporation through metallic masks in a van der Pauw configuration onto oxidized silicon substrates. In the as-deposited state the alloy thin films were amorphous. For the electrical characterization of VSi2, silicon-rich specimens with a V:Si atomic ratio of 1:3 were used.The kinetics of crystallization are well described by an equation of the Johnson-Mehl-Avrami type.Measurements of the electrical resistivity varrho over a wide temperature range (2–1100 K) on samples preheated at a high temperature exhibit a similar behavior for both the vanadium silicides, i.e. varrho rises less rapidly with temperature T than the Bloch-Grüneisen theory predicts and seems to approach a saturation value at the higher temperatures. An empirical formula is used to obtain a best fit of the resistivity curves. Polycrystalline V3Si thin film became superconductive at 15 K with a residual resistivity ratio of 10.6.