Preparation and DC-properties of nanoporous metal networks

Highly porous layers, consisting of sintered 30 nm silver particles have been deposited on a glass substrate held at 150 K by means of the inert gas condensation method. The percolation behaviour has been checked in situ by means of DC-conductivity measurements and correlated with the morphology of the network layers. The DC-conductivity of the deposits was measured as a function of time and temperature for different gas type environments in order to check the oxidation behaviour as well as the limit of thermal stability of the network morphology. Pure ohmic behaviour has been observed. We find an irreversible increase of the conductivity at temperatures above 190K, probably due to annealing effects within the primary particle contacts.