In the early 1970's, Abeles et al developed a widely accepted model for electrical conduction in granular metal films based upon an assumed correlation between metal particle size and inter-particle tunneling gap width. The paper critically examines this assumption and other aspects of the theory. No observation of any such correlation has been reported, nor should it be expected, particularly in discontinuous films. The latter point requires separate considerations of the very different structures of discontinuous metal films, granular metals and cermets, using the “granular” term here in a more limited sense than usual.Other aspects of the theory considered include its implied percolation topology and the field effect. Experimental data are also re-evaluated in terms of other common models. The paper concludes with a brief review of recent work in discontinuous metal films with suggestions for future theoretical and experimental work.
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