While MoSi2 has excellent resistance to oxidation and high Young's modulus at temperatures above 1000 °C, it is brittle in lower temperatures. Also, at above 1200 °C it loses creep resistance. These properties limits its use as a structural material, but may be offset by using it together with another material as a composite material.
Molybdenum disilicide and MoSi2-based materials are usually made by sintering. Plasma spraying can be used for producing its dense monolithic and composite forms; material produced this way may contain a proportion of β-MoSi2 due to its rapid cooling.
Molybdenum disilicide heating elements can be used for temperatures up to 1800 °C, in electric furnaces used in laboratory and production environment in production of glass, steel, electronics, ceramics, and in heat treatment of materials. While the elements are brittle, they can operate at high power without aging, and their electrical resistivity does not increase with operation time. Their maximum operating temperature has to be lowered in atmospheres with low oxygen content due to breakdown of the passivation layer.[5]
Molybdenum disilicide is used in microelectronics as a contact material. It is often used as a shunt over polysilicon lines to increase their conductivity and increase signal speed.
^F. M. d’Heurle, C. S. Petersson, and M. Y. Tsai (1980). "Observations on the hexagonal form of MoSi2 and WSi2 films produced by ion implantation and on related snowplow effects". J. Appl. Phys. 51 (11): 5976–5980. Bibcode:1980JAP....51.5976D. doi:10.1063/1.327517.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
