Referring to FIG. 2, following the deposition of the tungsten silicon layer 110, a thermal anneal in ambient or controlled atmosphere in argon, helium, nitrogen, or combination may be performed to change the crystalline structure of the tungsten silicon layer 110, forming a tetragonal phase tungsten silicon layer 120. Prior to the anneal, the tungsten silicon layer 110 may have an amorphous or hexagonal crystalline structure. This may decrease the resistance and TCR of the resulting tungsten silicon layer 120 by over 50%, and as much as 25 times, of the value of the tungsten silicon layer 110, due to changes in the crystalline structure. This may also decrease the resistance of the tungsten silicon layer 120 by at least 5%, and as much as 20%. The thermal anneal may be any number of processes that may change the crystalline structure of the tungsten silicon layer 110 such as, for example, a rapid thermal annealing process, a furnace annealing process, a laser anneal, a spike anneal or any other like annealing process that is capable of converting the amorphous tungsten silicon layer 110 into the tetragonal phase tungsten silicon layer 120. In an embodiment, a laser spike anneal (LSA) may be performed. In such embodiments, the LSA may be performed at temperatures ranging from approximately 900 to approximately 1150° C., more preferably from approximately 1050 to approximately 1100° C., for a period of time from approximately 0.1 to approximately 10 milliseconds.
