Efros-Shklovskii variable range hopping transport in nanocluster metallic films

Abstract

It is shown that a film composed of nanoclusters of metal alloys of magnetic materials with a small oxide shell exhibits a Coulomb gap behaviour and the electronic transport in these nanostructured systems is governed by a variable range hopping mechanism as given by the Efros-Shklovskii model. This interesting observation is likely to have far-reaching consequences in several transport-related behaviour in micro-electronics of nano-clusters and in ultra-high density data storage devices and is expected to have a great impact on the new generation magnetic recording media and magnetic sensors made out from these clusters. © 2012 American Institute of Physics.