Grain boundary reactive diffusion in Ni2Si thin films

A quantitative comparison is given of the reactive grain boundary diffusion coefficients of Ni in Ni2Si thin films. The coefficients are obtained from different theoretical models of grain boundary diffusion during the silici de formation and from experimental results of low temperature (T < 300 degr ees C) Ni2Si growth studies. The theoretical models are those starting from 1. concentration gradients in Fick's law and 2. chemical reaction theory w ith a reduction of free energy Delta G in the Nernst-Einstein equation. Dif ferences and problems in the obtained diffusion coefficients are discussed. In a first approach both methods are in reasonable agreement.