Thermal expansion of the isostructural PtSi and NiSi: Negative expansion coefficient in NiSi and stress effects in thin films

Thermal expansion of the isostructural PtSi and NiSi was studied. NiSi displayed the rare occurrence of contracting during heating along the axis with the smallest unit cell dimension. It was shown that NiSi was reproducible in thin films prepared by reactive diffusion. Expansion or contraction along the axis with small dimensions during heating was not shown in PtSi. Presence of residual thermal stresses at low temperatures was not revealed by X-ray diffraction in PtSi films.