Properties of nanogranular metal-dielectric composites in strong electric fields and the cluster electronic states

The electrical resistance of granular structures with ferromagnetic and nonferromagnetic metal nanoparticles embedded in concentrations below the percolation threshold was studied in strong electric fields. More specifically, amorphous silicon dioxide containing nanoparticles of a Co₄₁Fe₃₉B₂₀ alloy (a-SiO₂)_{100? x}(Co₄₁Fe₃₉B₂₀)_x structure] and amorphous hydrogenated carbon with embedded copper nanoparticles, a-C: H(Cu), were investigated. The (a-SiO₂)_100?x(Co₄₁Fe₃₉B₂₀)_x structures revealed changes in the electrical resistance and magnetoresistance after being subjected to a strong electric field. The changes could have reversible or irreversible character and depended on the electrical prehistory of the sample. A strong electric field caused not only a decrease in the electrical resistance but also a decrease in the magnetoresistance, although the magnetization of the sample remained unchanged. The temperature dependences of the current in a-C: H(Cu) films exhibited conductivity peaks under a decrease in temperature in strong electric fields and transitions from the insulating to conducting state; after the field was removed, there occurred reverse transitions and conductivity relaxation, as well as pronounced changes in the dielectric permittivity and an increase in dielectric losses with increasing temperature. A model of cluster electronic states (CESs) is proposed to account for the experimental findings. These states are created by electrons of the metal grains and matrix defects near the Fermi surface. The observed features find explanation in a change in the CES structure. A strong electric field does not bring about d-electron delocalization, and the fraction of d electron wave functions in a CES is small.