Abstract
It is shown that the thermodynamically equilibrium state of a system of small metal particles placed in a dielectric matrix are unavoidably charged. The charge of spherical metal particles with different radii is calculated at low temperatures. Hopping transport in a system of metal particles is studied. It is shown that it is limited by the charging energy, which serves as a typical hopping energy and can be gapless.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
B. I. Shklovskii and A. L. Efros, Electronic Properties of Doped Semiconductors (Springer-Verlag, New York, 1984).
Ping Sheng, Philos. Mag. B 65, 357 (1992).
C. J. Adkins, in Metal-Insulator Transitions Revisited, edited by P. P. Edvards and C. N. R. Rao (Taylor & Francis, 1995).
E. Z. Meilikhov, Zh. Éksp. Teor. Fiz. 115, 1484 (1999) [JETP 88, 819 (1999)].
E. M. Baskin and M. V. Entin, The 24th International Conference on the Physics of Semiconductors, Jerusalem, Israel (1998), Abstracts, Vol. 2, Th-P126.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Pis’ma Zh. Éksp. Teor. Fiz. 70, No. 8, 510–515 (25 October 1999)