Antilocalization and electron-electron interaction in thin granular palladium-carbon mixture films

We report measurements of the temperature dependence of the resistance in zero field and magnetic fields up to B=4 T for thin granular Pdₓ{C}_{1{{-}}x}$ films with various compositions x (0.45<x<1). The films have been prepared by codeposition of pure palladium and high-purity carbon onto quartz-crystal substrates at room temperature. The low-temperature resistance behavior of the Pdₓ{C}_{1{{-}}x}$ mixture films clearly exhibits contributions from weak antilocalization (WAL) and electron-electron interaction (EEI) effects in two dimensions. The experimental results are analyzed by theoretical predictions due to WAL and EEI theories, using electron scattering times as obtained from magnetoresistance measurements. It is shown that the analysis yields a consistent description of the low-temperature dependence of the resistance in zero field as well as in magnetic fields up to 4 T.