Effect of substrate temperatures on the electrical resistivity of thermally evaporated Mn thin films

Abstract

Resistivity measurements have been performed on three samples of Mn thin films from 300 to 1.4 K using the van der Pauw four probe technique. The films were grown by thermal evaporation onto glass substrates held at 523, 323 and 77 K, respectively in a bell jar held at 6 × 10 −6 Torr. The resistivity–temperature results of the three specimens reveal a variety of low temperature behaviours. A behaviour typical of the bulk α-Mn is obtained with the film grown at a substrate temperature of 523 K whilst with the film grown at a substrate temperature of 323 K, the resistivity tends to a saturation at low temperatures exhibiting a behaviour reminiscent of Kondo scattering. The resistivity–temperature behaviour of the sample held at a substrate temperature of 77 K may be regarded as typical of a metallic alloy glass with a negative temperature coefficient of resistivity at high temperatures and this turns to a T 2 dependence of resistivity at very low temperatures.