Observation of post-deposition resistance relaxation during growth of semicontinuous metal films

Semicontinuous niobium and silver films were made in an ultra-high-vacuum (UHV) chamber and in-situ d.c. resistance measurements were performed. After interrupting the deposition, we investigated the immediate ageing phenomenon (relaxation) of the sample resistance on a time scale of about 10 min. Resistance increase and decrease were observed for niobium and silver samples, respectively. The intensity of the relaxation is sensitive to substrate temperature and film thickness. We suggest that edge diffusion and coalescence of islands due to thermomigration of the metal atoms are responsible for the resistance relaxation.