Surface and grain boundary contributions in the electrical resistivity of metallic nanofilms

The surface and grain boundary contributions in the electrical resistivity rho of Au, Al and Cu films deposited by thermal evaporation with thickness from 3 to 100 nm on glass substrates were determined. The rho values were measured and theoretically evaluated following the Fuchs-Sondheimer, the Mayadas-Shatzkes, and the combined models. A method to measure the grain size and its distribution from atomic force microscopy images was implemented, finding a lognormal behavior in all cases. We obtained that surface (p) and grain boundary reflection (R) coefficients decrease as the film thickness increases, showing R coefficient, higher values and most important changes than p coefficient. We concluded that high rho values are mainly due to grain boundaries' contributions. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.