The unique properties of osmium including hardness, high reflectivity, extremely high melting point, and good chemical resistance make it a suitable material for use in non-oxidising atmospheres. None the less it does not find wide industrial application. A recent communication from the National Tsing-Hua University, Taiwan, however, reports the successful deposition of an amorphous osmium thin film on to single crystal silicon by electroless deposition from a hypophosphite-based bath (Y.-S. Chang and M.-L. Chou, Mater. Chem. Phys., 1989, 24, (1-2), 131).

The process ensures the cleanliness of the interface between the osmium and the silicon. The interface is abrupt, flat and without porosity, and annealing techniques may facilitate the growth of epitaxial suicide/silicon Schottky diodes. Tentative mechanisms for the growth of the film are proposed and discussed.