Effect of grain boundary electron scattering on conductivity of quench-condensed indium films

Abstract The thickness dependences of the resistivity and the temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) are measured at low temperatures (up to 190 K) for indium films condensed onto a substrate cooled with liquid helium and subsequently annealed at higher temperatures. The resistivity and TCR, as well as the variation in these characteristics with annealing are shown to be well described by the theory of Pichard et al. which takes into account the electron scattering at both the film surface and the grain boundaries. The processing of the experimental results in terms of the Mayadas-Shatzkes theory is less satisfactory. Possible reasons for these discrepancies are discussed and the most important sources of errors in numerical processing using these theories are considered.