Activation energy for electrotransport in thin silver and gold films

Abstract

The activation energy Δ H for electrotransport in thin silver and gold films was measured by a resistometric technique involving several individual resistance measurements along a stripe. The temperature of the center of the films was held constant during the entire experiment using a thin film thermocouple. For silver films, two distinct temperature regions with different activation energies were observed. Between 225° and 280°C Δ H was found to be 0.95 eV, which suggests predominance of ion movement in the grain boundaries, whereas at temperatures between 160° and 225°C Δ H was found to be 0.3 eV, which suggests surface-dominated electrotransport. In gold films a uniform activation energy of 0.98 eV was observed throughout the entire temperature range (260°–380°C).