Michael Maynard; Alex Mitchell, Dixie State University
As metal films get thinner, their resistivity increases. We study the phenomenon using nickel films. The nickel films are made in a vacuum system with pressures below 10^-7 Torr. A nickel filament is heated to 1200°C to sublimate the nickel onto our glass substrate. A four-point measuring probe was used to measure voltage drops across the film at known currents. This gave a sheet resistance. Thicknesses of the thin films was verified by images on a scanning electron microscope. Thicknesses varied from 40nm-255nm. Resistivity of films were calculated to be between 22-147Ωnm. A graph of resistivity vs thickness will be presented and discussed on this poster.