About cookies on this site Our websites require some cookies to function properly (required). In addition, other cookies may be used with your consent to analyze site usage, improve the user experience and for advertising. For more information, please review your options. By visiting our website, you agree to our processing of information as described in IBM’sprivacy statement. To provide a smooth navigation, your cookie preferences will be shared across the IBM web domains listed here.
Publication
Journal of Applied Physics
Paper
Intrinsic resistivity and electron mean free path in aluminum films
Abstract
Measurements of the electrical resistivity at 296°and 4.2°K in aluminum films, evaporated both in an ion-pumped ultrahigh-vacuum system and in conventional oil-pumped systems onto unheated glass substrates, are presented and used to calculate the intrinsic mean free path and intrinsic electrical resistivity at 4.2°K. It is shown that the UHV films are characterized by a maximum mean free path of the order of 1 μ and by smaller residual resistances than other films. While the mean free path so obtained is still several orders of magnitude smaller than the published value for high-purity foils of bulk aluminum, it is nevertheless not small enough to appreciably influence the resistivity at 296°K which is measured to be ≈60% higher than the bulk value. This discrepancy, which may be due to structural effects, emphasizes the view that the sample artifact of adding the bulk thermal resistivity to a residual resistivity can be misleading in the case of thin films, even when surface scattering is accounted for. © 1968 The American Institute of Physics.