Influence of Al on the growth of NiSi2 on Si(0Â 0Â 1)

Thin films of different atomic ratios of nickel and aluminium were deposited on Si(0 0 1)-wafers by magnetron cosputtering. The content of deposited nickel complies to layer thickness of about 20 nm. After deposition the samples were annealed between 500 and 900 °C in steps of 100 degree using rapid thermal annealing (RTA) in N2 ambient. RBS, SEM, TEM, XRD, AES and sheet resistance measurements were performed to characterize the grown thin films.