Thin Solid Films, 76(1981) 359-378 ELECTRONICS AND OPTICS 359 ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY AND ELECTRON EMISSION FROM DISCONTINUOUS METAL FILMS OF HOMOGENEOUS STRUCTURE P. G. BORZIAK, Yu. A. KULYUPIN,S. A. NEPIJKOAND V. G. SHAMONYA Institute of Physics, UkrainianAcademy of Sciences, Prospekt Nauki 144, Kiev 28 (U.S.S.R.) (ReceivedAugust 4, 1980;acceptedSeptember 7, 1980) The electrical conductivity of discontinuous metal films in weak fields is discussed. All the structural and electrophysical characteristics of the films (the electric field distribution, the island shape, the size distribution of islands and interisland spacings, the field dependence of the conductivity and the influence of temperature on the film resistivity) are investigated using a special chamber in a transmission electron microscope with a device for electron interference. The results obtained allow us to evaluate critically the current theories and to show the important role of the charge effect in the conductivity of discontinuous films in a weak field. 1. INTRODUCTION The mechanism of electrical conductivity and associated phenomena in discontinuous metal films has been discussed by Morris and Coutts 1. Various practical applications of these films are to a large extent hampered by the lack of understanding of the phenomena. Using the standard experimental devices, the ammeter, voltmeter and thermocouple, it is possible to measure only characteristics averaged over a large number of islands in a film and the interpretation of these can be ambiguous. Discontinuous films constitute a complicated object of research which can be successfully treated only by a simultaneous study of all the essential film parameters and characteristics. In our opinion, such a comprehensive experiment must include in situ investigations of the structure, the temperature and field dependences of the conductivity and the electric field distribution in a film. We have performed such investigations since 1977 and have reported some results in refs. 2 and 3. In this paper we summarize the results on the electrical conductivity of the films with a statistically homogeneous island structure, leaving the properties of films with an inhomogeneous structure for a separate discussion. 2. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM According to the experimental and theoretical results reported in the literature, the key factors in understanding the electrical conductivity mechanism in 0040-6090/81/0000-0000/$02.50 © Elsevier Sequoia/Printed in the Netherlands