Measurements on the electrical transport properties in CoSi₂ and NiSi₂ formed by thin film reactions

Electrical resistivity and Hall effect measurements on thin CoSi₂ and NiSi₂ films were carried out in the temperature range 1.5–300 K and in magnetic fields up to 10T. Metal-like conduction in CoSi₂ is inferred from the low residual resistivity and from the temperature dependence of the resistivity which follows Matthiessen's rule. The Hall constant R_H deviates from the ideal metallic behaviour suggesting the presence of two carrier types of opposite sign, holes being the predominant species. In NiSi₂ a change in the sign of the Hall constant at 110–220 K suggests that a reversal of the predominant carrier type from holes to electrons takes place. This anomalous behaviour of NiSi₂ requires further exploration.