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Electrical Conduction in Granular Metal Films

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2011

J.E. Morris ,
A. Mello  and
C.J. Adkins
J.E. Morris
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical Engineering, T.J. Watson School of Engineering, State University of New York, Binghamton, NY 13901
A. Mello
Affiliation:
IBM Corporation, Department of Opto-Electronics, Endicott, NY 13760
C.J. Adkins
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge University, U.K
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Abstract

In the early 1970's, Abeles et al developed a widely accepted model for electrical conduction in granular metal films based upon an assumed correlation between metal particle size and inter-particle tunneling gap width. The paper critically examines this assumption and other aspects of the theory. No observation of any such correlation has been reported, nor should it be expected, particularly in discontinuous films. The latter point requires separate considerations of the very different structures of discontinuous metal films, granular metals and cermets, using the “granular” term here in a more limited sense than usual.

Other aspects of the theory considered include its implied percolation topology and the field effect. Experimental data are also re-evaluated in terms of other common models. The paper concludes with a brief review of recent work in discontinuous metal films with suggestions for future theoretical and experimental work.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 195: Symposium S – Physical Phenomena in Granular Materials , 1990 , 181
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1990

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References

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