The phase and texture of of Er-germanide formed on Ge(001) through a solid-state reaction between Er thin films and Ge(001) via rapid thermal annealing (300-600 degrees C) were investigated. It was found that amorphous ErGe1.2 forms at 300 C, followed by the formation of AlB2 hexagonal ErGe1.5 at 400-500 degrees C and then orthorhombic ErGe1.8 at 600 degrees C. X-ray diffraction pole figure measurement revealed that the ErGe1.5 films formed at 400-500 degrees C consist predominantly of epitaxial grains with an orientation relationship of ErGe1.5(1 (1) over bar 00)[0001]//Ge(001)[01 (1) over bar], although the presence of a considerable amount of epitaxial grains with an orientation relationship of ErGe1.5(1 (1) over bar 00)[0001]//Ge(001)[010] was also observed in the film formed at 400 degrees C. The germanide film formed at 600 degrees C was found to consist of randomly orientated orthorhombic ErGe1.8 grains. Among the three different germanide phases, ErGe1.5 showed minimum resistivity values as low as similar to 19 mu Omega cm. (c) 2006 The Electrochemical Society.