The Influence of Phase Separation on Structure and Electronic Transport in Solid-State Physics

Book excerpt: This book provides solutions and answers to physical problems in solid-state physics that have eluded scientific explanation for decades. Examples of such unsolved physics problems are: • Why are there simple metals with positive thermopower, although according to classical theory the thermopower of simple metals should always be negative? • What are the reasons for the different structures in sputtered, respective evaporated, thin films: amorphous, granular or fractal structures depending on the composition of the film alloys? • Why can amorphous metal layers exist at all, although the crystalline state is the more stable? • What is the secret of good adhesion of thin metal films to insulator substrates? • Why does the electrical conductivity σ of a thin metal layer decrease exponentially with decreasing layer thickness? • Is there a finite minimum metallic conductivity? • What is the cause of the phenomenon of the “Giant Hall Effect” in metal insulator layers? • What is the reason for Mooij's correlation? This text is intended for physicists, chemists, materials scientists, nano- and biotechnologists, students and interested laymen.