A xenon marker was implanted into a thin film of NiSi initially formed on its silicon substrate by the reaction of this substrate with a thin film of nickel. During the subsequent transformation of NiSi into NiSi2 at about 800 °C, the displacement of the xenon marker towards the free surface of the film indicates that nickel constitutes the main diffusive species for the growth of NiSi2. This is compared with the previously published knowledge about Ni2Si, NiSi, and the silicides of cobalt.

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Some rare-earth elements, Tb, Er, Yb (including Y) and some of their respective silicides were found to make ohmic contacts to n-type silicon. Forward I/V and photoresponse measurements give values of about 0.7 eV for the Schottky-barrier height to p-type silicon. The sum of this value and of the experimentally estimated barrier height to n-type silicon, 0.4 eV, corresponds to the band gap of silicon.

The formation of iridium silicides from the interaction of iridium films with single-crystal silicon substrates has been studied from 350 to 1000 °C. Three distinct phases, IrSi, IrSi1.75(?), and IrSi3, were identified. Different modes of formation were observed and investigated. IrSi and IrSi1.75 form in layers parallel to the substrate at temperatures from 350 to 900 °C. The growth of IrSi3 from nuclei that spread laterally occurs at about 1000 °C, where possible the kinetics were systematically studies.

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