MAGNETOCONDUCTIVITY OF THIN EPITAXIAL NISI2 FILMS IN UHV AT LOW-TEMPERATURES

The scattering mechanisms for thin nickel silicide films have been studied with the help of magneto-conductivity. To study very thin films the films had to be prepared in UHV and measured in situ at low temperatures (18 K) and in high magnetic fields (up to 4.5 T). NiSi2 films are produced by the annealing of nickel films on Si(111). A full description of the measured magnetoconductance is possible using the theory of Hikami et al. In addition to the dominant elastic scattering, spin-orbit and inelastic-scattering times have been determined quantitatively out of variations with temperature and magnetic field. It is shown that antilocalization dominates the scattering mechanism.