Silicide formation induced by thermal annealing in Ni/Si thin film system has been investigated using glancing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). Silicide formation takes place at 870 K with Ni2Si, NiSi and NiSi2 phases co-existing with Ni. Complete conversion of intermediate silicide phases to the final NiSi2 phase takes place at 1170 K. Atomic force microscopy measurements have revealed the coalescence of pillar-like structures to ridge-like structures upon silicidation. A comparison of the experimental results in terms of the evolution of various silicide phases is presented. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.