A contact metallurgy structure comprising a patterned dielectric layer having vias on a substrate; a silicide layer of cobalt and/or nickel located at the bottom of vias; a contact layer comprising Ti located in vias on top of the silicide layer; a diffusion layer located in vias and on top of the contact layer; a metal fill layer in vias is provided along with a method of fabrication. The metal fill layer comprises at least one member selected from the group consisting of copper, ruthenium, rhodium platinum, palladium, iridium, rhenium, tungsten, gold, silver and osmium and alloys thereof. When the metal fill layer comprises rhodium, the diffusion layer is not required. Optionally a seed layer for the metal fill layer can be employed.